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Research shows mornings are a great time of day for winter walks.

Everyone’s schedule may be different, but if you were trying to come up with an ideal time to lace up for a winter walk, research shows you might want to shoot for earlier in the day.

Different studies have found multiple benefits to the a.m. amble, including one 2023 study published in the Journal of Physiology that found participants who took earlier walks saw better improvements in their blood sugar levels and blood pressure than their afternoon-walking counterparts.

Meanwhile, a 2024 study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that getting outdoors and taking in morning sunlight helped improve participants’ sleep quality that night.

But why does the winter walk matter so much? Because apparently, it can be the next best thing to your morning cup of coffee. A study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology in 2009 found that participants who walked outdoors for 20 minutes versus indoors on a treadmill saw a bigger boost in energy following their exercise.

There can also be some benefits if you’re trying to lose weight, especially if you hit the road before breakfast. “Working out in a fasted state when your glycogen stores are minimized may help you burn more fat,” Michael Russo, MD, a bariatric surgeon at MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center, told Women’s Health.

However, he clarified that you should be sure you’re getting plenty of protein in your diet, as your body can also consume muscle in this state, too.

There are also mental health perks.

Stepping out into that brisk morning air can be a great way to get your alertness up, but it can also help get your mind ready for the rest of the day.

In a previous interview with Best Life, Adrian Todd, a fitness expert and the founder of Great Minds Think Hike, explained that kicking off a winter day with a walk can help you feel more productive, focused, and centered. In some cases, putting it first thing in the morning can make it more meditative.

“Another benefit I have personally found with early morning walks, hikes, and runs is the ability to quietly reflect. The peacefulness of the early morning allows for introspection and planning your day ahead,” he told Best Life.

Still, even if you’re not jumping out of bed and hitting the road, other benefits come with sneaking it in just before lunch.

“A mid-morning walk can serve as a great break from work or tasks that you’ve been focusing on. It helps to break up the sedentary time and can provide you with a burst of energy and clarity that caffeine alone can’t offer,” Andrew White, a certified personal trainer and the founder of Garage Gym Pro, previously told Best Life. “Plus, it’s a great way to dodge the crowds that you might encounter during lunchtime or after work.”

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You can think of early walks as a kind of insurance policy.

There are definitely some special considerations about morning walks during the winter. Namely, this means being extra careful to look out for black ice if temperatures have been below or near freezing in your area and making sure you’re dressed appropriately for the cold weather.

But when it comes to planning, getting it out of the way earlier makes it less likely that an afternoon flurry (or any other unexpected issue) will sideline you.

“If you generally walk in the morning but something happens—poor weather or an urgent family matter, for instance—you can still walk later in the day,” Louise Hateley, a physiotherapist and the director of In Stride Health Clinic, previously told Best Life.

The post The #1 Best Time of Day to Take a Winter Walk, According to Doctors appeared first on Best Life.

A growing wealth of research suggests that common mental health disorders—including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—can actually shorten a person’s lifespan by 10 to 20 years. A major driver of this alarming gap is the much higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people living with mental health conditions.

RELATED: Your Cup of Coffee Could Prevent Depression, Research Shows—Here’s How.

A Sept. 2025 study, published in The Lancet Regional Health—Europe, highlights how deeply intertwined mental and cardiovascular health can be. It also explains why addressing both together is essential for closing the life-expectancy gap.

People with mental health disorders face a 50 percent to two-times higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular death compared to those without these conditions, the study says. And, the relationship appears to go both ways: Developing heart disease can also trigger new mental health issues, including depression and anxiety. (It is estimated that more than 40 percent of people with cardiovascular disease also have a mental health condition.)

Perhaps even more shockingly, the researchers found that those living with depression are 72 percent more likely to develop heart disease, while those with anxiety disorders saw a 41 percent higher risk of cardiovascular mortality. Those with schizophrenia were at greatest risk, nearly doubling their odds with a shocking 95 percent increase.

This “comorbidity” happens for many reasons. Acutely stressful life events and chronic stress—which can contribute to the onset of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and schizophrenia—are also powerful risk factors for heart disease. Biological pathways such as inflammation and hormonal stress responses may worsen both conditions, as can depression-linked behaviors like smoking, inactivity, and poor sleep.

Though these risk factors are well known to medical professionals, people with mental health disorders often receive inferior cardiovascular care. “Despite having more interactions with the healthcare system, they undergo fewer physical checkups and screenings,” the study states, noting that they are also less likely to receive prompt diagnosis and treatment.

These gaps stem from social and structural barriers, including stigma and socioeconomic disadvantage. Compounding the problem, people with mental health disorders are frequently excluded from medical research, making it harder to design effective prevention and treatment strategies.

RELATED: Depression Raises Your Risk of These 3 Serious Health Problems by 30%, New Study Finds.

The study authors stress that reducing these health disparities requires integrated, whole-person care, noting that a “large proportion of untreated mental health disorders in the population is likely a combination of system, provider, and patient factors (such as limited access to care, stigma, poor health literacy, lack of social support).”

They further add that these barriers call for “better strategies towards outreach, screening, treatment referral and access to care for mental health problems in primary care and cardiology settings.” These might include:

• Routine mental-health screening in heart-care settings
• Better cardiovascular screening and prevention in mental-health care settings
• Interventions that address stress, trauma, and lifestyle risk factors
• Policies targeting social determinants of health, such as poverty and access to quality care
• Mind-body practices that improve both cardiovascular and mental health risk factors

The findings underscore an important message: that mental health is physical health. Left unaddressed, mental health disorders can dramatically shorten life—often by one to two decades—largely due to preventable cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, strengthening mental-health support, improving heart-disease care, and integrating the two are essential steps toward closing this life-threatening gap.

The post Anxiety and Depression Can Shorten Your Lifespan By 20 Years, Researchers Warn appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: 4 Types of Magnesium Supplements—And Which One’s Right for You.

1. Diarrhea and stomach issues

If you’ve noticed some stomach trouble after changing your magnesium dosage, it might be a warning sign that it’s too high. According to Leann Poston, MD,  a licensed physician working as a health expert for Invigor Medical, some forms of the mineral are even used in laxative products because of the effects they can have on the gastrointestinal system.

“Magnesium salts pull water into the gut, causing loose and watery stools,” she tells Best Life. “Water is retained in the intestines to dilute concentrated magnesium salts. This overstimulates the gut, causing diarrhea.”

Other noticeable symptoms can pop up even earlier. “Along with diarrhea, people can experience stomach cramps and nausea when they take high doses of magnesium for constipation,” says Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, senior medical editor at GoodRx.

2. Confusion

Feeling foggy can happen for many reasons, from not getting enough sleep to coming down with a slight virus. However, overdoing it on magnesium can also cause people to feel lethargic.

“Very high magnesium levels disrupt normal nerve and muscle function,” says Poston. “They can interfere with the release and uptake of brain chemicals that serve as messengers in the brain and body, causing extreme fatigue and confusion.”

RELATED: 3 Best Vitamins to Take for Longevity, According to Doctors.

3. Low blood pressure

Some people seek out magnesium supplements to help manage their blood pressure. And while Poston says these effects are often “not significant and can be inconsistent,” there is the chance that bringing too much magnesium into your system could lead to a problem.

“Magnesium may reduce blood pressure by acting as a natural calcium channel blocker,” she explains. “When magnesium competes with calcium for its binding sites on smooth muscle, it can cause the smooth muscle lining blood vessels to relax and dilate. This lowers resistance to blood flow and blood pressure.”

4. Urine retention

If you’re having trouble relieving yourself in the bathroom, there’s a chance it might have to do with your magnesium dosage.

“Magnesium is involved in regulating smooth muscle contraction,” Poston says. “When blood magnesium levels are too high, it can interfere with bladder muscle contraction. This makes it hard to empty the bladder, even when it is overly full and uncomfortable.”

RELATED: 12 Supplements You Should Never Take Together, Medical Experts Say.

5. Magnesium toxicity

Pinto-Garcia warns that, in some instances, taking very high doses of the mineral leads to a medical emergency known as magnesium toxicity.

“This usually happens when you take more than 5000 mg of magnesium,” she says, adding that this usually happens when people take too much magnesium-containing laxatives or antacids.

Along with the symptoms previously mentioned, magnesium toxicity can appear as a combination of intestinal blockage, flushing, and vomiting. But it can also cause even more serious problems.

“Very high magnesium levels can lead to kidney damage, muscle weakness, trouble breathing, and cardiac arrest,” she says. “It’s rare, but magnesium toxicity can be fatal. If you think you could have taken too much magnesium, call poison control.”

The post 5 Side Effects of Taking Too Much Magnesium, Doctors Say appeared first on Best Life.

A recent article in The New York Times polled doctors and scientific studies and concluded that three common vitamins are the holy grail of longevity, especially because most adults become deficient in them as they age. Read on to learn why experts feel confident that these claims are much more than just hearsay.

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1. Vitamin B12

“Vitamin B12 deficiency is relatively common, especially among older adults, vegetarians, and vegans,” Samantha Turner, MPH, RDN, a registered dietitian and owner of Forks and Grace, previously told Best Life.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), foods high in vitamin B12 include salmon, canned tuna, oysters and clams, ground beef, beef liver, milk and yogurt, fortified cereals, and nutritional yeast.

Turner explained that vitamin B12 “plays an important role in supporting nerve and brain health and energy metabolism, and is crucial for nerve development, DNA synthesis, and red blood cell formation.”

However, when you’re not getting enough of this nutrient, you can suffer from fatigue, neurological changes, numbness and tingling in the body, anemia, and even fertility issues. You also may be losing out on important protective effects for stroke and dementia.

A 2025 study published in the journal Annals of Neurology found that “low vitamin B12 levels were associated with slower processing speeds and reaction times on cognitive tests,” as Best Life reported.

Perhaps more significant was that the study results showed a correlation between vitamin B12 deficiency and larger volumes of white matter lesions in the brain, which can then lead to an increased risk of stroke and dementia.

Michelle Saari, MS, RD, a registered dietitian working with EHealth Project, told Best Life in a previous interview that research into healthy levels of vitamin B12 has shown that it can “help in reducing brain atrophy and cognitive decline, particularly in older adults.”

“[B12] is vital for the maintenance and repair of nerve cells, which benefits our brains. It helps in the formation of the protective covering of nerves, known as the myelin sheath,” she explained. “Without B-12, this sheath can deteriorate, leading to nerve damage. Healthy nerve cells are crucial for effective brain function, and B-12 plays a key role in ensuring the proper functioning and communication of these cells.”

RELATED: Plastic Surgeon Reveals the No. 1 Anti-Aging Supplement.

2. Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps boost your immune system, support bone health, regulate blood pressure, stabilize your mood, and more. Because your body absorbs this nutrient from the sun, come the wintertime, “you may feel more fatigued, experience muscle weakness, or even struggle with depressive symptoms,” Best Life previously shared.

Foods high in vitamin D include salmon, canned tuna, egg yolks, mushrooms, and fortified cereals.

However, research shows that roughly 42 percent of U.S. adults are deficient in vitamin D, a figure that climbs to 78 percent in people over 65.

A vitamin D deficiency can lead to poor bone health, muscle and joint pain, hair loss, tingling in the hands or feet, and digestive conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease. It can also put you at a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases and other age-related diseases.

To this point, a 2024 study published in the journal Engineering found that taking vitamin D supplements led to lowered blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as improved blood sugar, insulin, and A1C levels. Put together, this reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, heart attack, and heart disease. This was especially true for those over age 50 and those who had previously been vitamin D deficient.

Moreover, a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that taking vitamin D supplements protected cells against biological aging. These findings said vitamin D specifically reduces the risk of age-related diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis, liver fibrosis, aplastic anemia, tumorigenesis, and certain cancers, as Best Life shared.

RELATED: Doctor Says 102-Year-Old Woman Is “Off the Charts”—Here Are Her Longevity Secrets.

3. Omega-3s

“Found primarily in fish oil, omega-3 fatty acids like EPA and DHA are essential for maintaining heart, brain, and joint health. These fatty acids have strong anti-inflammatory properties, which can help reduce chronic inflammation—a key contributor to many age-related diseases,” Tunç Tiryaki, MD, a surgeon and the founder of the London Regenerative Institute, previously told Best Life.

“Omega-3s are also known to support cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure, reducing triglycerides, and improving blood vessel function. Additionally, studies suggest that omega-3s may enhance cognitive function and slow age-related cognitive decline, making them valuable for long-term brain health,” Tiryaki added.

In fact, a recent study published in the journal Nature Aging found that taking omega-3 supplements slowed biological aging by roughly 3 to 4 months, based on a 3-year study period. When combined with vitamin D and regular exercise, the results were even more promising.

Additional research shows that eating foods high in omega-3s—”healthy fats” like salmon, sardines, flaxseed, chia seeds, and walnuts—can lower the risk of certain cancers (those found in the colon, stomach, lung, and hepatobiliary tract, specifically) and help prevent aging-related cognitive decline.

As for brain health, Sarah Otto, co-founder and in-house nutritionist of Goodness Lover, previously pointed out to Best Life that more than half of your brain is made up of fats, 35 percent of which consist of omega-3s.

If you’re considering taking any of these vitamins, first speak with your healthcare provider to determine if it’s safe and healthy, and to avoid potential interactions with other medications.

The post 3 Best Vitamins to Take for Longevity, According to Doctors appeared first on Best Life.

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A change in your sense of smell could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s.

The latest data comes from a study conducted by scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) that was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

The researchers began by examining both healthy mice and mice with Alzheimer’s, specifically focusing on the locus coeruleus section of the brainstem (which helps regulate a special kind of neurotransmitter throughout the brain) and how it functioned alongside the olfactory bulb, which handles smell.

The team noted that young mice with Alzheimer’s showed an early degeneration of vital nerve fibers in their locus coeruleus, well before amyloid plaques that typically signify progression of the disease showed up in their brains. This was observed in both imaging performed on the rodent subjects, as well as a decline in smell tests performed on them using food and other odor responses.

The team then carried over the study to humans by examining brain tissue taken from diseased patients who had developed Alzheimer’s, finding that the cadavers showed the same signs of degeneration in their olfactory bulbs. It was again noted in PET scan imaging of living Alzheimer’s patients, whose olfactory bulbs showed signs of inflammation in the same area.

What do these findings mean?

So, what brings about this degeneration? The team says that immune cells known as “microglia” begin to malfunction and remove connections between those two parts of the brain.

“The locus coeruleus regulates a variety of physiological mechanisms. These include, for example, cerebral blood flow, sleep-wake cycles, and sensory processing. The latter applies, in particular, also to the sense of smell,” Lars Paeger, PhD, one of the scientists who worked on the study, said in a press release.

“Our study suggests that in early Alzheimer’s disease, changes occur in the nerve fibers linking the locus coeruleus to the olfactory bulb,” he continued. “These alterations signal to the microglia that affected fibers are defective or superfluous. Consequently, the microglia break them down.”

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What caused this degeneration?

The cause for this change remains slightly complicated, but the researchers believe it’s related to the movement of a fatty acid known as phosphatidylserine from the inside of an affected nerve fiber’s membrane to the outside.

“Presence of phosphatidylserine at the outer site of the cell membrane is known to be an ‘eat me’ signal for microglia,” Paeger explained. “In the olfactory bulb, this is usually associated with a process called synaptic pruning, which serves to remove unnecessary or dysfunctional neuronal connections. In our situation, we assume that the shift in membrane composition is triggered by hyperactivity of the affected neurons due to Alzheimer’s disease. That is, these neurons exhibit abnormal firing.”

While the research may not shed light on specific causes, it does help link a longstanding theory that changes in a person’s sense of smell could be used as an early detection tool for cognitive decline.

“Smell issues in Alzheimer’s disease and damage to the associated nerves have been discussed for some time. However, the causes were unclear until yet. Now, our findings point to an immunological mechanism as cause for such dysfunctions—and, in particular, that such events already arise in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease,” Joachim Herms, PhD, a research group leader at DZNE and LMU and one of the study’s co-authors, said in the press release.

The takeaway:

Researchers in Germany have published study results suggesting that a loss of the sense of smell could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.

Using brain data from mice and both diseased and living patients diagnosed with the condition, the team found that a degeneration of nerve fibers in the area of the brain stem that oversees smell appeared before the amyloid plaque that signifies middle and later phases of progression were spotted.

According to the press release, the early detection capabilities these findings suggest could help doctors begin effective treatment in the typically hard-to-spot early phases of the disease, thanks to newly developed therapies.

“Our findings could pave the way for the early identification of patients at risk of developing Alzheimer’s, enabling them to undergo comprehensive testing to confirm the diagnosis before cognitive problems arise,” Herms said. “This would allow earlier intervention with amyloid-beta antibodies, increasing the probability of a positive response.”

The post How Your Nose Can Predict Alzheimer’s Disease Years Earlier appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: If You’re Getting Older, This Supplement Can Protect Against Dementia, Researchers Discover.

How do vaccines lower dementia risk?

In a 2024 interview with The Washington Post, Keenan Walker, a senior investigator and the director of the Multimodal Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disease Unit at the National Institute on Aging, explained that severe infections in the body can lead to brain atrophy, or an accelerated loss of brain volume. This, in turn, can cause cognitive decline.

In a more recent piece in The Washington Post, Avram Bukhbinder, a resident physician at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, built on this well-supported hypothesis: “We think it’s the uncontrolled kind of systemic inflammation that’s probably contributing to that. And it’s very likely that they had the underlying Alzheimer’s or other dementia pathology already, but the inflammation is what pushed them over the edge.”

Therefore, vaccinating yourself against these infections can lower the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. As The Post points out in its Sept. 2025 article, there are currently four vaccines that research shows can protect your brain.

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1. The flu shot

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for the 2024-25 respiratory virus season, approximately 47 percent of U.S. adults received a flu vaccination, similar to the rate in previous years. This leaves more than half the population vulnerable to an infection that kills close to 30,000 people each year.

However, failing to get a flu shot could also harm your brain health and/or lead to pneumonia.

A 2023 study published in the journal Neuron analyzed the health data of nearly 400,000 people from the Finnish biobank FinnGen and the U.K. biobank. They concluded that influenza with pneumonia was “significantly associated” with an increased risk of five neurodegenerative diseases: Dementia, vascular dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

However, a 2022 study conducted by Bukhbinder and fellow researchers found that adults over age 65 who received a flu vaccine were about 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s. They arrived at their findings after studying the health data of more than 1.8 million adults.

Likewise, a 2024 study that included 71,000 participants concluded that the flu shot was linked to a 21 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and, more specifically, a 42 percent lower risk of developing vascular dementia (a type of dementia caused by damage to the blood vessels in the brain).

2. The RSV vaccine

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an infection of the lungs and respiratory tract. Babies, adults over 65, and those with compromised immune systems are among the groups at a higher risk of contracting the virus. Typically, RSV causes cold-like symptoms, but it can spread to the lower respiratory tract, where it can cause bronchiolitis or pneumonia.

In 2023, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first RSV vaccine. And as The Post points out, a June 2025 study has already found that it “was associated with a reduced risk of dementia over 18 months compared with those who received the flu vaccine.”

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3. The shingles vaccine

The same June 2025 study concluded that the shingles vaccine was associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Both it and the RSV vaccine contain an ingredient called AS01, which helps boost the body’s immune response to the viruses. However, the researchers theorize that AS01 may also protect the brain from inflammation.

In fact, a separate 2025 study found that “those who received the shingles vaccine Zostavax (an older version than what’s currently offered today) were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia within the next seven years than those who didn’t get the shot,” as Best Life reported at the time.

“Plus, the researchers found that this reduced risk was stronger in women than men,” Best Life explained. “This could be because of the differences in which dementia develops in women versus men and the fact that women generally have stronger immune responses to vaccines.”

Moreover, additional studies have shown significant decreases in the risk of heart attack and stroke after receiving newer versions of the shingles vaccine.

The CDC recommends that all adults age 50 and over get vaccinated against shingles. However, their most recent data from 2019 shows that only 26 percent of this age group received the vaccine.

4. The Tdap vaccine

The final vaccine that The Washington Post reports to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia is the Tdap vaccine, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough).

According to a 2021 study of adults over age 65, those who received both the shingles vaccine and the Tdap vaccine had a 42 to 50 percent lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who got no vaccines.

As with all vaccinations, speak with your healthcare provider about what is best for you.

The post 4 Vaccines That Can Lower Your Risk of Dementia, Researchers Discover appeared first on Best Life.

The good news is that experts have an answer: It turns out that jumping exercises are considered best for building stronger bones. The key, they say, is to hit the pavement with a certain amount of “ground reaction force,” helping to stimulate bone growth. For those new to the concept, this is the equal and opposite force our bodies receive from the ground as we bring our weight down upon it.

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“Lots of people have questions about how hard they have to jump to stimulate formation of new bone, and in general there’s a cutoff of an activity creating a ground reaction force that is three times your body weight to stimulate new bone formation,” Joscelyn Wittstein, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, explained in a recent social media post.

She notes that the ground reaction force created with walking is about 1.5 times your body weight, while running is about 2.5 times your body weight. Jumping rope, often hailed as the best option, is actually somewhere in the middle—”15 percent less than running, but 40 percent more than walking,” Wittstein says.

So, what’s the best way, according to the surgeon? Wittstein says that you can create a ground reaction force that is more than four times your body weight by trying “drop jumps with a vertical rebound”—essentially jumping off an elevated surface of eight inches, landing, and jumping once more in place. The doctor demonstrates the exercise by jumping off the lowest stair in a staircase, since these typically measure 7 ¾ inches.

If this exercise seems a bit odd, that’s a good thing. Emily Stein, MD, MS, the co-director for the Skeletal Health and Orthopedic Research Program at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, recently told the The Washington Post (WaPo) that if you want to build bone density, “You have to surprise the bone. You have to do something different.”

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The gains may seem modest, but Wittstein assures they’re worthwhile: If you do 30 reps of the exercise three times per week over six months, you should be able to increase hip bone mineral density by about one percent.

However, even less frequent exercise could still provide benefits, said Pam Bruzina, PhD, a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri, also in conversation with WaPo: “A little bit of jumping two or three times a week could go a long way in benefiting your bone health throughout your lifespan.”

However, there’s just one important caveat—without the accompanying muscle, these exercises could themselves lead to a higher incidence of injury. Be sure to build up both bone density and a stronger body for safer exercise and better results.

The post The No. 1 Exercise for the Strongest Bones, Doctors Say appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: Doctors Say This 1 Superfood Can Lower Your Dementia and Alzheimer’s Risk.

New data shows shingles vaccines could help with other health concerns.

The latest research comes from a meta-analysis and review presented on August 30 at the 2025 European Society of Cardiology Congress in Madrid, Spain.

The team looked at 19 studies before cutting down the number to nine that met the inclusion criteria to determine whether the herpes zoster (the virus that causes shingles) vaccine could provide some benefits in heart health events. Just above half the participants were male for all included studies, while seven of them reported having middle-aged means of 53.6 to 74 years old.

Results of the analysis found that there was an 18 percent reduction in cardiovascular health emergencies in adults aged 18 or older, and a 16 percent reduced risk for participants who were 50 and above. The results were true of both the recombinant herpes zoster vaccine (RZV) and the live attenuated zoster vaccine (ZVL).

“We looked at the currently available evidence, and found that in this analysis, vaccination against herpes zoster was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks or strokes,” Charles Williams, MD, the global associate medical director for vaccines at pharmaceutical company GSK and the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “Further research studies are now needed to find out whether this association can be attributed to an effect of herpes zoster vaccination.”

RELATED: Taking Too Much of This Supplement Can Hurt Your Heart, Doctors Warn.

Research has also shown it can be beneficial for brain health.

It’s not just cardiovascular health where the common shingles vaccine can play a beneficial role: It might also help stave off cognitive decline.

In a study published in the journal Nature last April, researchers at Stanford University collected data from roughly 280,000 middle-aged to older adults from Wales over seven years. Crucially, a vaccine policy change in the U.K. in September 2013 dictated that only adults who were about to turn 79 were eligible to receive the shot, which researchers said created a “natural experiment” that allowed for dementia rate comparison.

The team took other factors into consideration, including personal medical histories and other medications being taken during the study. However, the results showed that participants who had received the Zostavax shingles vaccine (which is now outdated) were 20 percent less likely to show signs of dementia within seven years compared to those who didn’t. These findings were also found to be stronger in women than in men.

The researchers then planned a follow-up by conducting a nearly identical study in England, except with a nine-year window that yielded the same results. Studies replicated in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand also came back with the same findings.

“If these findings are truly causal, the zoster vaccine will be both far more effective as well as cost-effective in preventing or delaying dementia than existing pharmaceutical interventions,” the study’s authors concluded.

RELATED: This Is the No. 1 Heart Attack Symptom People Ignore, Doctors Say.

So, what does this mean for you?

In their press release, authors of the recent meta-analysis cited prior research that has found a potential link between increased heart attack and stroke risk in the wake of someone developing shingles. But while they were enthusiastic that data might suggest the vaccines are effective in more ways in one, they were careful to point out specific limitations.

“Almost all the evidence came from observational studies, which are prone to bias and shouldn’t be used to infer causality,” Williams said. “All the studies used in the meta-analysis aimed primarily to investigate the use of herpes zoster vaccine to prevent shingles in the general population, which may limit the ability to generalise this research to people with a higher risk of cardiovascular events.”

Ultimately, Williams concluded that this means there’s a need for more research on the topic to better understand the implications.

The post Common Vaccine Can Lower Your Risk of Dementia, Heart Attack, and Stroke appeared first on Best Life.

Moreover, women and Black adults are considered to have a “substantially” higher dementia risk, as well as those who carry the gene variant APOE4, which is “the strongest risk factor gene for Alzheimer’s disease,” explains the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

There is no known cure for dementia, although there are lifestyle modifications you can make to help lower your risk. Some of these include getting routine exercise, adhering to a well-balanced diet, managing stress levels, prioritizing sleep, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking, and even staying social.

More recently, green tea has been touted by medical professionals for its brain health benefits

RELATED: Experts Warn This Common Medication May Be Linked to Dementia Risk.

For instance, research findings presented in the journal BMC Geriatrics found that high-frequency green tea consumption (defined as drinking green tea at least one to three times per week) was “significantly associated with a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment in middle-aged and older individuals.”

In another paper, researchers studied 8,766 brain scans and compared the different neurological effects of green tea versus coffee. For the purpose of this experiment, they only worked with participants aged 65 and up. Their findings were published in the journal Nature.

“This cross-sectional study found a significant association between lower cerebral white matter lesions and higher green tea consumption, but not coffee consumption, in older adults without dementia, even after adjusting for confounding factors,” wrote the authors.

By the numbers, the brain scans of individuals who drank three cups of green tea per day showed three percent fewer white matter lesions, compared to once-daily green tea drinkers. Furthermore, drinking seven or eight cups per day was associated with six percent fewer lesions.

White matter refers to the “nerve fibers in your brain that connect different areas of your brain to each other and to your spinal cord like highways,” explains Cleveland Clinic. Lesions form where there’s damage to these nerve fibers, which can “damage important pathways,” and subsequently, trigger memory, mobility, and balance issues. On a brain scan, lesions appear as “bright spots.”

RELATED: Doctors Say This 1 Superfood Can Lower Your Dementia and Alzheimer’s Risk.

Green tea is also considered a longevity superagent. A study previously cited by Best Life found that “tea connoisseurs over the age of 50 can increase their longevity by 1.26 years. These results were more prominent among men who drank green tea.”

As a superfood, green tea has also been linked to improved gut health, reduced liver inflammation, weight loss, and reduced hypertension.

The post The No. 1 Beverage to Protect Your Brain After 60 appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: If You’re Over 65, This Is Your Ideal Resting Heart Rate—And Why It Matters.

The FDA just approved Apple Watch’s new hypertension feature.

On Sept. 11, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) cleared a new hypertension (high blood pressure) notification feature for Apple Watch.

The announcement was made alongside the unveiling of the new Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch Series 11, both of which are available now and include the new hypertension feature. The feature is also available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later, with watchOS 26.

As the American Heart Association (AHA) explains, a traditional blood pressure reading consists of systolic blood pressure (the upper number, which “measures the pressure your blood is pushing against your artery walls when the heart beats) and diastolic blood pressure (the lower number, which “measures the pressure your blood is pushing against your artery walls while the heart muscle rests between beats”).

It’s important to understand that the Apple Watch does not provide these readings and cannot diagnose high blood pressure.

Rather, the watch has an optical heart sensor that uses light to detect “the amount of blood flowing through your wrist at any given moment,” as Apple explains. “By flashing its LED lights hundreds of times per second, Apple Watch can calculate the number of times the heart beats each minute—your heart rate.”

The hypertension feature uses this data and then analyzes how your blood vessels contract and expand in response to these heartbeats. “The algorithm works passively in the background, reviewing data over 30-day periods, and will notify users if it detects consistent signs of hypertension,” states a press release.

RELATED: 100s of Thousands of Americans Could Be Saved by 7 New Blood Pressure Guidelines.

This feature is potentially life-saving.

In the U.S., nearly half of adults have hypertension. Of these roughly 120 million people, nearly 60 percent are unaware that they have high blood pressure.

This is a scary statistic considering that hypertension significantly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the nation. In 2023, “high blood pressure was a primary or contributing cause of 664,470 deaths in the United States,” according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

“Hypertension is the leading preventable cause of heart attack and stroke, yet millions remain undiagnosed,” Harlan Krumholz, MD, SM, a cardiologist and scientist at Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital, said in a statement to Apple. “Making accurate detection easy and part of daily life can help people get care earlier and prevent avoidable harm.”

Therefore, if an Apple Watch user receives a hypertension alert, it’s recommended that they use a traditional blood pressure cuff to track their readings for seven days, followed by an appointment with their healthcare provider.

The benefits of this feature aren’t strictly anecdotal, either.

“The feature was developed with advanced machine learning and training data from multiple studies totaling over 100,000 participants,” states Apple. “Its performance was then validated in a clinical study of over 2,000 participants.”

In this study, the hypertension alerts from Apple Watch were just as accurate as a blood pressure cuff.

RELATED: 6 Things You Never Knew You Could Do With Your Smartwatch.

The heart rate feature is important, too.

In addition to consistently monitoring your blood pressure, knowing your resting heart rate can also provide valuable insight into your heart health.

“A persistently high heart rate can put excessive strain on the heart, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, and heart attacks,” Erin Barrett, PhD, director of product innovation and scientific affairs at Shaklee, previously explained to Best Life.

“A consistently low heart rate can result in inadequate oxygen delivery to the brain and other organs, potentially causing fainting, confusion, and, in severe cases, heart failure,” she added.

However, as with all health features on Apple Watch, it is not a substitute for regular and recommended doctor’s appointments.

The post Your Apple Watch Launched a New Life-Saving Feature This Week appeared first on Best Life.

The actress, known for her roles in Hairspray and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, has been very outspoken about her stance on the beauty industry—even going so far as to purge her personal makeup drawer of toxic ingredients. At the age of 66, Pfeiffer only swears by clean-beauty products.

RELATED: Dermatologists Agree This Is the #1 Anti-Aging Skincare Ingredient.

Her path to self-confidence has been flanked by Hollywood’s outdated beauty standards, particularly when it comes to women of a certain age. For Pfeiffer, adjusting her mindset around what it means to feel beautiful was a major turning point.

“The older I’ve gotten, the easier it’s become,” she told Oprah Daily in 2019. “You reach a threshold where you’re fine with looking good for your age instead of looking young for your age, and I’ve crossed it. Would I like to look the way I did in my early 30s? You bet, but that’s not going to happen, and I don’t feel the same pressure I once did to do so. It’s quite a relief, honestly.”

Although Pfeiffer has earned herself the title of “clean beauty queen,” she’s learned when not to push the envelope. As a working actress, Pfeiffer understands that she needs “the best-performing products,” albeit those might not always be the most environmentally-friendly.

“When I’m in the makeup chair, I just let the artist have her way with me. I’ve tried asking a few to use clean or organic makeup, and they look at me like I have three heads. I have to have different standards,” she stated.

When she isn’t in front of the camera, she’s more of a stickler. “There are products that I know to be supersafe, and if I’m not working and won’t be photographed, I’ll use those,” she said.

In fact, the Scarface actress hasn’t made any changes to her skincare routine in over a decade. “My routine is simple: I cleanse, I moisturize—that’s it,” she revealed.

RELATED: If You’re Over 50, Stop Making These 5 Makeup Mistakes, Beauty Expert Says.

The discrepancy between toxic and non-toxic beauty products, especially in the perfume industry, inspired Pfeiffer to establish her own fragrance brand. Henry Rose launched in 2019 and is now sold in Nordstrom.

“When I founded Henry Rose, the only thing I truly cared about was creating a quality fragrance that met the strict safety and sustainability standards of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Cradle to Cradle (C2C),” she explained in an interview with New Beauty magazine.

The journey was met with “a lot of rejection and dead ends,” she recalled. Pfeiffer eventually struck a partnership with International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). But the obstacles didn’t stop there.

Because Henry Rose is a clean-beauty brand, the team ruled out any ingredients that didn’t meet EWG or C2C’s standards. Pfeiffer said this immediately narrowed down the formula palette from about 3,000 ingredients to less than 400.

“Just last year, we launched our first true floral scent, Flora Carnivora, which was incredibly challenging to formulate with the ingredient restrictions. It took more than two years! So, every new scent we bring to market feels like a huge accomplishment,” she said in 2021.

Other environmentally-conscious beauty brands that Pfeiffer approves of include Beauty Counter, Stella McCartney, W3II People, Jones Road, and Guide Beauty.

The post The #1 Beauty Habit Michelle Pfeiffer Swears By at 66 appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: Doctors Warn This Common Medication May Be Linked to Dementia Risk.

Research suggests that the virus that causes cold sores could increase the risk of Alzheimer’s by 80 percent in some people.

Over 30 years ago, a team of scientists discovered that HSV-1 could be found in the brains of older people, a surprise since many believed the brain was protected from germs thanks to the blood-brain barrier. Now, a researcher on that same team announced this summer that people with one particular Alzheimer’s risk factor, a gene called APOE-e4, have a risk that is many times greater if they have also been infected with HSV-1.

To test the theory, the team studied brain cells that they had infected with the virus, and determined that those cells developed amyloid and tau, abnormal proteins found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. They theorized that the virus stays asleep in the body for many years, but as people get older and their immune systems weaken, the virus may wake up in the brain. When it does, it can damage brain cells and cause swelling, which could lead to Alzheimer’s in some people.

The researchers also found the virus’s DNA inside the sticky protein clumps in Alzheimer’s brains. When scientists used antiviral drugs in the lab, the damage was reduced, suggesting that medicine might one day help slow or even prevent the disease.

A 2025 BMJ study came to similar conclusions. It suggests that people who have had a previous case of HSV-1 are 80 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s later in life, even after controlling for risk factors like carrying two copies of the APOE4 gene.

To assess the role of HSV-1, the researchers grouped the medical records of over 300,000 people aged 50+ into two evenly split cohorts: those who had been diagnosed with  Alzheimer’s disease, and those who had not. They found that 1,507 (0.44 percent) people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease had previously experienced an HSV-1 infection, compared with 823 (0.22 percent) people who were not diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

RELATED: 85% of Unvaccinated Women Will Likely Get This Virus—And New Research Links It to Heart Disease.

Medications and vaccines could curb the risk.

Bolstering the BMJ researchers’ insight, they also determined that people who had taken medication to treat their HSV-1 infection were 17 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those who did not.

Researchers have also looked at the shingles virus, which is used to treat another herpesvirus: varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Though the vaccine is not used to prevent HSV-1, they saw relevance in the fact that people who got the shingles vaccine were less likely to get dementia later on.

As Best Life previously reported, a 2025 study published in the journal Nature found that people who received the shingles vaccine Zostavax (an older version than what’s currently offered today) were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia within the next seven years than those who didn’t get the shot.

Preventing the spread of HSV-1 is a challenge since it is very common and often spread through saliva, but you can take steps to reduce your risk. To avoid infection, avoid close contact, particularly oral or sexual contact, with someone who has an active outbreak of oral or genital sores.

And, if you do contract HSV-1, talk to your doctor about whether treatment might be right for you. Not only will this hasten the healing of your cold sore, but it could also protect your brain for years to come.

The post Common Virus Could Increase Your Alzheimer’s Risk By 80% appeared first on Best Life.

Naturally, these startling figures have doctors, scientists, and researchers hard at work to find treatments and a cure for dementia. But, until then, experts are also making people aware of the preventative steps they can take—and that includes limiting or avoiding certain medications. But when it comes to benzodiazepines, the research is split on how risky they are.

RELATED: Doctors Warn This Common Medication May Be Linked to Dementia Risk.

Benzodiazepines are commonly taken in the U.S.

Benzodiazepines, more commonly known as benzos, “are a class of medications that slow down activity in your brain and nervous system,” according to Cleveland Clinic. Therefore, they are prescribed for anxiety, mental health conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, insomnia, and to treat seizures in those with epilepsy.

Some of the most-prescribed benzos include Xanax (Alprazolam), Klonopin (Clonazepam), Valium (Diazepam), and Ativan (Lorazepam). The U.S. classifies benzodiazepines as controlled substances because they can be habit-forming and dangerous if misused.

Despite these risks, nearly 31 million U.S. adults (close to 13 percent of the population) report having taken a benzo in the past year, more than 5 million of whom didn’t have a prescription.

RELATED: Doctors Say This 1 Superfood Can Lower Your Dementia and Alzheimer’s Risk.

Some research links benzos to an increased dementia risk.

A 2021 report published by Psychiatric Times warns that benzodiazepines have been linked with a high risk of dementia.

“Although there are no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) looking at the association between benzodiazepine use and the risk for dementia, six prospective cohort studies, six case control studies, and one retrospective cohort study explore the relationship,” the report says.

Of the 13 studies mentioned in the report, eight showed a positive association between benzodiazepine use and dementia, and two more showed mixed or inconclusive results.

Moreover, a 2016 study published in BMJ and cited in the report looked specifically at how long patients used benzodiazepines as it related to cognitive outcomes. The researchers found that short-term use of this class of drug was associated with developing dementia.

“It remains uncertain whether long-term use is associated with global cognitive decline,” the study authors wrote. This complicates the widely held notion that benzodiazepines are considered safe for short-term use, a period typically defined as two to four weeks for this particular drug.

RELATED: Doctors Warn These 5 “Healthy” Habits May Be Silently Harming Your Brain.

However, newer studies dispute the association.

Despite these earlier scientific claims, newer studies dispute the association between benzodiazepines (BZD) and dementia.

First, a 2022 study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions found “little evidence of a causal relation between BZD use and dementia risk.”

The study did observe that higher levels of BZD exposure (more than 365 days over 2 years) were associated with increased odds of a dementia diagnosis, but the results were “not statistically significant.” However, a separate study published this year hypothesized that “this association appears to be driven by the confounding due to higher rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety among users.”

In 2023, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 30 studies that explored the relationship between benzodiazepine use and dementia risk.

“The evidence supporting this relationship was weak, and the methodological quality of the studies included was low,” the researchers wrote. “In conclusion, our findings revealed limited evidence of a link between benzodiazepine use and dementia risk, and more research is required to determine a causal connection.”

Finally, a 2024 study analyzed the health data and pharmacy records of 5,443 adults with no cognitive issues and similarly found no connection between benzos and dementia risk.

This most recent study did, however, note a slightly higher risk among people who had taken benzos for anxiety, especially at high doses, compared to those who had taken the drugs to sleep.

RELATED: Doctors Warn You’re Not Getting Enough of This Vitamin to Protect Against Stroke and Dementia.

Either way, benzodiazepines can be dangerous and addictive if misused.

Experts warn that benzodiazepines have long been linked with a wide range of potentially serious side effects. “These drugs are associated with many deleterious effects, including falls, fractures, traffic incidents, and delirium,” explains the BMJ study.

Benzos are also known to cause drowsiness, confusion, blurred vision, loss of motor control, slurred speech, slowed breathing, muscle weakness, and more.

Additionally, these drugs can be habit-forming.

“Benzodiazepines work by slowing down nerve activity in the brain and the rest of the central nervous system, thereby diffusing stress and its physical and emotional side effects,” explains the American Addiction Centers.

In addition to their tranquilizing effects, benzodiazepines release dopamine in the brain, “the chemical messenger involved in reward and pleasure,” they state. “The brain may learn to expect the regular doses of benzos after a few weeks of taking them and therefore stop working to produce these chemicals on its own without them.”

You should not attempt to discontinue use on your own. Speak to your doctor for guidance on how to safely wean yourself from benzodiazepines, or if you believe you’re experiencing negative side effects of benzos, or if you’ve developed drug-seeking behaviors surrounding their use.

The post Do Anxiety Meds Raise Dementia Risk? The Science Just Flipped appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: 8 Best Supplements for Hair Growth, Doctors Say.

If you’ve noticed unexplained hair loss, you may need to turn your attention to your diet, as vitamin deficiencies are a surprising—yet somewhat common—cause for hair loss or hair thinning.

“A balanced diet is crucial for healthy hair growth,” explains dermatologist Zein Obagi, MD. “Certain nutritional deficiencies, such as inadequate iron, zinc, biotin, or protein intake, can impact the hair follicles’ ability to produce new hair strands.”

Though most people should be able to get the necessary vitamins and minerals through a balanced diet, “extreme or crash dieting can deprive the body of essential nutrients, including those crucial for maintaining healthy hair growth,” cautions Yoram Harth, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and the medical director of MDhair.

On the flip side, sometimes getting too much of a vitamin can backfire. As Best Life recently reported, taking significantly more than the recommended amount of vitamin A in its form retinol (900 micrograms for men and 700 mcg for women) can cause hair loss.

“Taking too many supplements of the retinol kind over a prolonged period results in your hair follicles going into overdrive,” Michael May, FRCS, medical director and principal surgeon at London’s Wimpole Clinic, explained. “This means that your hair will reach the end of its development phase too rapidly and begin to fall out.”

However, when taken appropriately, vitamin A can actually stimulate hair growth.

Add hair loss to the list of reasons soda and other sugary drinks are bad for you.

A 2023 study found that men who drink one sugary beverage a day, or a total of one to three liters a week, are 30 percent more likely to experience male pattern hair loss (MPHL) compared to those who drank none. This included soda, energy drinks, juice, and sweetened coffee drinks.

As Best Life reported at the time, the researchers “speculated that sweet drinks could lead to higher blood sugar levels, which has been found to trigger hair loss.”

And now, a review published last month found that both sugary drinks and alcohol can lead to hair loss. To arrive at this finding, the researchers analyzed 17 studies involving 61,332 participants, 97 percent of whom were women.

RELATED: Dermatologist Says These Are the 3 Best Shampoos for Thinning Hair.

Dermal filler injections, used to treat wrinkles and create a more youthful appearance, can also cause hair loss, according to Kelly Johnson-Arbor, MD, a medical toxicology physician and interim executive director at National Capital Poison Center.

“When fillers are injected into the subcutaneous tissues, the small volume of fluid injected can cause pressure on blood vessels, blocking blood flow to nearby hair follicles,” she explains. “This is most commonly noted after filler injection into the forehead area. This type of hair loss frequently resolves over a period of several months.”

Hyaluronic acid and botulinum toxin (Botox) injections are two popular types that can lead to hair loss in rare instances. However, Johnson-Arbor notes that Botox is also sometimes used to treat hair loss, “as it relaxes the scalp muscles and leads to potentially improved blood flow to the scalp.”

It’s not a myth that stress can cause your hair to fall out. Obagi notes that emotional and physical stress can disrupt the normal hair growth cycle, resulting in hair loss or hair thinning.

“When a person experiences a significant life event, undergoes emotional distress, or endures physical trauma, their body may divert energy away from hair growth, leading to temporary hair loss or telogen effluvium,” he explains.

However, the dermatologist notes that this type of hair loss is often reversible once the stress is managed effectively.

“Hair loss can be an unintended side effect of certain medications, such as chemotherapy drugs, antidepressants, beta-blockers, or hormonal treatments,” says Obagi. “These medications can disrupt the hair growth cycle or induce telogen effluvium.”

Cleveland Clinic explains, “Telogen effluvium is a type of temporary hair loss caused by a stressor or change to your body.” It speeds up your hair’s natural growth-resting-shedding cycle so that more hair follicles enter that final phase at once.

Specifically, beta-blockers “change your body’s response to stress hormones, like adrenaline, to lower your heart rate and reduce blood pressure,” Brandi Cole, PharmD, pharmacist and nutritionist at Persona Nutrition, previously explained to Best Life. “These changes are thought to impact hair growth at the follicle and may stop new hairs from growing.”

Additionally, many people taking Ozempic and similar GLP-1 weight-loss medications have reported hair loss. Dermatologists say this is likely due to rapid weight loss sparking telogen effluvium.

If you suspect medication as the cause of hair loss, Obagi recommends consulting with a healthcare professional to explore alternative options or mitigate the effects.

RELATED: 17 Surprising Signs Your Hair Will Go Gray.

How you style your hair can also determine whether you get to keep it.

“Certain hairstyles that exert excessive tension on the hair follicles, such as tight ponytails, braids, or extensions, can lead to traction alopecia,” explains Obagi. This type of hair loss occurs when prolonged or excessive pulling on the hair follicles causes the hair strands to weaken and then break or fall out.

By opting for looser hairstyles and avoiding excessive heat, you can help prevent this form of hair loss.

If you’re using dry shampoo as directed and still washing your hair with soap and water regularly, you shouldn’t have a problem. “However, overusing it can cause issues like buildup on the scalp, clogged follicles, and even increased shedding if you’re prone to it,” trichologist Hannah Gaboardi recently told Harper’s Bazaar.

“The overuse of dry shampoo can affect the hair follicle and clog the pores. This can cause a delay in the natural hair cycle and slow it down. This blockage does not allow your hair follicles to receive the nutrients and oxygen flow it needs for healthy hair,” she added.

Chemical treatments, including chemical hair straighteners, have also been found to cause hair loss. In fact, a 2022 study found that besides their association with hair loss and scalp inflammation, these types of treatments were also linked to increased incidence of eczema, pain, burns, changes in hair color, and more.

In rare cases, hair loss can indicate a serious underlying condition, such as heavy metal poisoning or exposure to toxic heavy metals. Johnson-Arbor tells Best Life that thallium and arsenic poisoning are the two types most likely to cause hair loss.

“In the human body, these heavy metals interfere with normal cellular metabolism and function, disrupting hair growth and other organ functions,” she explains. “Hair loss associated with heavy metal poisoning is often diffuse in nature and is typically accompanied by other signs and symptoms, including confusion, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, and gastrointestinal disturbances.”

RELATED: I’m a Dermatologist and I’d Never Do These 6 Things to My Hair.

Many people report greater hair loss in the fall and winter months—and if that happens, it’s likely nothing to worry about.

“In the summer, we tend to hold on to more hair to provide increased protection from the sun, and in the colder months, more hairs than normal fall out to make way for thicker hair growth for the winter,” Gökhan Vayni, a hair specialist at Vera Clinic, previously told Best Life.

“Excessive hair loss in winter is largely due to the dry air outside that dries moisture from your scalp,” Vayni added. “A dry scalp leads to dry hair, which in turn results in hair damage, breakage, and hair loss.”

If you notice unexplained hair loss, it’s important to discuss your symptoms with your doctor. They may want to screen you for certain autoimmune conditions, among other things.

“Autoimmune conditions, such as alopecia areata, can cause hair loss by mistakenly attacking the hair follicles,” says Obagi. “This results in the interruption of the hair growth cycle and subsequent hair loss. Treating the underlying autoimmune condition and seeking appropriate medical intervention can help manage hair loss in such cases.”

Finally, hormonal fluctuations can play a significant role in hair loss.

“Pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, and conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can cause hormonal imbalances that impact the hair growth cycle,” Harth notes. “These changes can lead to temporary hair loss or even permanent hair thinning.”

Speaking with a healthcare provider specializing in hormonal health can help address the underlying causes and manage any associated hair changes.

The post 12 Sneaky Reasons You’re Losing Hair, According to Doctors appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: 2 Brand New Product Lines Launching at Old Navy This Fall.

For the past few years, every store out there catering to millennial shoppers has duped Free People’s $78 Quilted Carryall Bag. The lightweight, slouchy bag comes in more than 20 colors and is perfect for the gym or even a short overnight trip.

Naturally, Target has its own version—the Puffer Hobo Shoulder Bag from the brand Wild Fable. It doesn’t come in quite as many colors, but it’s only $25, currently on sale for $20.

However, what’s really caught my eye this year is Target’s smaller, Puffer Crossbody Handbag, which is currently on sale for just $16, down from $20. As someone with narrow shoulders, I prefer a bag that won’t constantly be sliding down my arms. This is just as lightweight, cute, and versatile as the larger version, but may be better suited for day-to-day use. Plus, it’s nearly $40 cheaper than the Free People version.

When it comes to football season, I’m usually just there for the food and friends. So, this Gameday Social Club Baseball Hat couldn’t be more perfect for my fall wardrobe. Plus, it’s on sale for just $12. (The Go Sports cap is also quite cute.)

For less casual occasions, this faux-suede Soft Shoulder Bag is so chic—and has so much room for all the odds and ends I’ll inevitably throw in it. Available in brown or tan, or black faux-leather, it’s currently on sale for $28.

When it comes to jewelry, I’m team gold all the way. And I’ve recently gotten into the trend of stacking little hoops in my double ear piercings. This Small Hoop Earring Set is only $6.39 right now, but it looks so much more expensive.

RELATED: 4 Major Target Changes Coming to Stores, and How They’ll Affect You.

A lot of my sweaters are beige, off-white, black, and green (my capsule wardrobe color palette), and this camel-colored Wide Suede Belt will go perfectly with all of them. The oversized gold buckle makes a subtle statement, and, even better, the belt is reversible (the other side is a matte off-white). Oh, and it’s on sale for just $16.

How cute would this stack of bangles look with a simple black sweater and great-fitting jeans? They can add a little oomph to a casual outfit, or give you that bit of glitz for a night out. The 10-Piece Bangle Bracelet Set is on sale for $10.39.

Speaking of a night out, this Woven Crossbody Clutch is big enough to fit my phone, wallet, lipstick, and tissues (I never go anywhere without a mini pack of ’em!), but small and dressy enough to work for a nice dinner date or even a fall wedding. And at $24, you might consider getting the black and the cream (and having all your seasons covered).

The post 7 Best Target Accessories to Grab Before the Fall Sale Ends appeared first on Best Life.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than 1 in 7 U.S. adults. That’s about 35.5 million people, or 14 percent of the population. Even more alarming is that up to 90 percent of these Americans are unaware that they have CKD, a condition in which the kidneys become damaged over time and cannot filter blood efficiently. This can cause fluid and toxins to build up in the body, and it can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Another worrying fact is that doctors say some common “healthy” habits could be silently harming your kidneys. But the good news is that these things are easy enough to change to get your kidney health back on track.

RELATED: Doctors Warn These 5 “Healthy” Habits May Be Silently Harming Your Brain.

Of all the feedback we received, eating too much protein was the most commonly cited “healthy” habit that can harm your kidneys. This often comes into play when people consume excessive protein shakes as part of a fitness regimen.

“Eating double or triple the recommended protein doesn’t build more muscle, it just makes your kidneys work overtime,” states board-certified urologist David Shusterman, MD.

In fact, a 2020 study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN) linked high-protein diets to an increased incidence of new-onset CKD since your kidneys are responsible for filtering protein from your blood. Over time, this added strain can lead to serious issues.

Nephrologist Tim Pflederer, MD, chief medical officer of Evergreen Nephrology, adds that protein consumed from animal meat is especially dangerous for those with chronic kidney disease.

Try this instead: Of course, it would be counterproductive to eliminate protein from your diet entirely. That’s why Pflederer recommends ditching animal sources and opting for plant-based proteins like legumes, soy, nuts, and whole grains like quinoa and lentils.

Research backs this up, too: A 2021 study published in the journal Nutrients concluded that vegetarian diets improve the body’s ability to handle complications of CKD.

More generally, Shusterman advises keeping track of your protein intake: “Think 0.8–1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight daily unless your doctor says otherwise.”

It seems like there’s a supplement for everything these days, and indeed, the supplement market in the U.S. is growing by billions of dollars. However, since vitamins and supplements aren’t pre-approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), there’s a lot of misinformation and misuse out there.

To that point, doctors caution that certain supplements, especially when taken at high doses, can damage your kidneys.

Turmeric, high-dose vitamin C, and high-dose calcium can all cause kidney stones, while vitamin D can be problematic for those with CKD.

“Vitamin D supplements can interact with aluminum-containing phosphate binders often used in chronic kidney disease patients to reduce the phosphate levels in the blood,” HaVy Ngo-Hamilton, PharmD, a BuzzRx clinical consultant, previously told Best Life. “Therefore, vitamin D can result in harmful levels of aluminum in people with chronic kidney disease.”

Though less common, potassium supplements are also dangerous, as are herbal supplements that you may not realize contain potassium. “People with chronic kidney disease, including those on dialysis, must watch their potassium intake to prevent potassium accumulation in the blood,” Ngo-Hamilton said.

Try this instead: Supplements are not inherently bad. If you’re considering taking any, first speak with your doctor, who can alert you to any potential side effects or medication interactions.

RELATED: 7 Drinks That Protect Your Liver, Gastroenterologist Says.

Detox teas claim they can rid your body of toxins and excess waste, while also promoting weight loss. However, there is little scientific evidence to support this, and Shusterman points out that these products can even harm your kidneys.

For one, these teas contain diuretics, which increase your urine output (hence the rapid “weight loss”). This can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances, both of which can strain the kidneys.

Detox teas also typically contain unregulated herbal ingredients like licorice root, St. John’s wort, and Senna leaf, all of which are known to be harmful to the kidneys.

Try this instead: “The best detox is the one your body already has, your kidneys,” advises Shusterman. “Support them with whole foods, fiber, and hydration. Skip the fads, trust your biology.”

Yes, it’s possible to overhydrate, especially when you down an excessive amount of water in a short time.

As Calm explains, “Your kidneys are responsible for balancing the amount of water and electrolytes (like sodium) in your body, but they can only process about 0.8 to 1.0 liters of water per hour. If you drink water faster than your kidneys can filter it out, electrolytes in your bloodstream can become diluted.”

“This is a problem because sodium helps regulate the balance of fluids inside and outside of your cells—and if there’s too little, it can cause swelling,” their experts continue. “This can affect different parts of your body, including your brain, which can lead to some serious symptoms and, in very rare cases, life-threatening conditions.”

Try this instead: Shusterman says his general rule of thumb is to drink when you’re thirsty. He also points out that your urine should look pale yellow if you’re appropriately hydrated.

RELATED: Doctor Says These 10 Supplements Can Damage Your Digestive System.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), and naproxen (Aleve) are over-the-counter medications used to reduce pain, inflammation, and fever.

Since they’re non-addictive (like dangerous opioids) and so easily available, many people take them without a second thought. However, overusing NSAIDs is “a fast track to kidney stress,” says Shusterman.

“NSAIDs restrict blood flow through the renal arteries, which over time impairs the filtration process, and that can mean a drop in kidney function over prolonged use, even with low-dose regular use,” double board-certified pain expert Thomas Pontinen, MD, previously told Best Life.

“It may not be a big deal at 28 years old, but at 48, add some dehydration, high blood pressure, or other health complications, and you might be at risk of chronic kidney disease,” he added.

Pontinen said he’s even seen “people end up with acute kidney injury after taking just two Advil tablets daily for three weeks straight.”

Try this instead: “Save pain relievers for when you truly need them,” advises Shusterman. “For everyday soreness, your best medicine is stretching, sleep, and hydration. Ice and heat can work wonders without the kidney risk.”

“CKD can be detected in mild stages by a simple test of blood and urine. The blood test is called glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and the urine test is called the urine albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR),” says Pflederer.

“These two tests can identify people who have early kidney damage so that measures can be taken to prevent worsening, including the complication of kidney failure that might require a kidney transplant or dialysis,” he adds.

To maintain a kidney-healthy lifestyle, avoid tobacco products, maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly, watch your sodium intake, and monitor your blood pressure levels.

The post Doctors Warn These 5 “Healthy” Habits May Be Silently Harming Your Kidneys appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: Doctors Warn That Drugs Like Ozempic Are Making You “Skinny Fat.”

How skin reacts to rapid weight loss:

You might have read news headlines warning about “Ozempic face,” “Ozempic feet,” “Ozempic mouth,” or even “Ozempic butt.” This group of unofficially named side effects refers to the physical changes—notably, saggy and drapey skin—that occur with massive weight loss.

“When we gain weight, this is done gradually ,which gives our skin the time to expand and stretch to accommodate the extra weight,” explained Jana Abelovska, superintendent pharmacist at Click Pharmacy, in an interview with Healthline.

“Our skin is actually surprisingly elasticated, thanks to its elastin and collagen makeup,” she continued. “But if you lose weight too quickly, your skin will remain at its looser state, rather than instantly returning to its pre-weight gain state, particularly if you have been overweight for several years.”

How much weight you lose and how fast, as well as age, can influence how well your skin bounces back after weight loss. But for older individuals and those who’ve shed more than 50 pounds, saggy skin is more likely.

“The skin has to go somewhere, and it usually goes down because of gravity,” said Holly Lofton, MD, an obesity medicine specialist at NYU Langone Health in New York City, told the The New York Times.

RELATED: Ozempic and Mounjaro Patients Report Potentially Fatal New Side Effect.

As a result, cosmetic surgeries are increasing.

Unshockingly, this has become a trend in Ozempic patients—so much so that skin-tightening cosmetic surgeries have significantly skyrocketed since the drug gained prominence.

Board-certified plastic surgeon Michele Shermak, MD, told CNN that, at her practice, “we are lifting from head to toe.”

Breast lifts and tummy tucks have increased by 30 percent and 37 percent, respectively, between 2019 and 2022, reports CNN. During that time frame, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved Wegovy for weight loss. (Ozempic is currently only FDA-approved to treat type 2 diabetes, though many use it off-label to help shed excess weight.)

Additionally, upper arm lift surgeries are up 23 percent. Facelifts, lower body lifts, and butt lifts are also on the rise, according to data from the American Society of Plastic Surgery, as cited by CNN.

“I thought I knew what weight loss would be like,” Tresnae Ramsey told the Times. She lost 100 pounds in one year while taking tirzepatide, the active ingredient found in Wegovy and Mounjaro.

“Nobody warned me about the loose skin,” she shared.

RELATED: Patients Reveal Another “Nightmare” Ozempic Side Effect.

How to tighten skin without surgery:

While creams, lotions, moisturizers, and serums can help with the appearance of your skin in terms of scarring and wrinkles, they won’t fix the root cause. But that doesn’t mean you need to jump to elective plastic surgery.

“The best way to tighten skin on your own is by building muscle, since it can fill in the gap left behind by fat. While aerobic and resistance training can both be good options for improving skin elasticity, resistance training promotes more muscle growth,” the Times reports.

For those early on in their Ozempic journey, or who are thinking about going on the drug, Shermak implied that slow and steady wins the race.

“People who just drop weight super fast, I think the skin can’t catch up,” said Shermak, who is also a spokesperson for the American Society of Plastic Surgery. “I think losing weight in a more gradual way can minimize problems.”

The post The No. 1 Ozempic Side Effect “Nobody Warns About” appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: Taking 1 Common Medicine Could Prevent 100,000 Heart Attacks A Year, Research Finds.

Researchers might have found a safer aspirin alternative for heart attack patients.

A new meta-analysis published in the journal The Lancet is challenging the long-held belief that aspirin is the most suitable medication for treating established coronary artery disease. Rather, researchers claim that clopidogrel is a more effective alternative.

Clopidogrel is an oral tablet that works as a platelet inhibitor. “It reduces the chance that a harmful blood clot will form by preventing platelets from clumping together in the blood,” explains Mayo Clinic. It’s sold under the brand name Plavix.

Researchers specifically studied the success rate of clopidogrel in patients who had previously suffered a heart attack or stroke. They found that clopidogrel lowered the risk of a future heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular-caused mortality by about 14 percent. Additionally, they observed no increased risk of major bleeding, which is a known risk of the drug.

“To the best of our knowledge, clopidogrel monotherapy is the only anti-platelet treatment that has consistently demonstrated greater efficacy than aspirin without compromising safety,” wrote the authors.

Their data analysis looked at seven randomized trials involving 28, 982 individuals; 14,507 took clopidogrel and 14,475 used aspirin. Following a five-year observation period, clopidogrel patients were less likely to suffer a major cardiovascular event compared to aspirin patients.

“These findings support the consideration of clopidogrel as the preferred long-term anti-platelet strategy instead of aspirin in patients with established coronary artery disease,” wrote the authors.

RELATED: Doctors Warn This Common Medication May Be Linked to Dementia Risk.

Additional research found that beta-blockers can increase a woman’s odds of a second heart attack.

Is it safe for women to take beta-blockers after suffering a heart attack? Perhaps not, according to a new study published in the European Heart Journal. The study looked at heart attack patients with minor heart damage, some of whom were prescribed beta-blockers for treatment.

“Beta blockers work by blocking beta receptors. This action prevents [the stress hormones] epinephrine and norepinephrine from binding to these receptors and thereby inhibits their action inside cells. This, in turn, reduces stress on the heart, slows the heart rate, and lowers blood pressure,” explains Harvard Health.

The research team discovered that women taking beta-blockers were more likely to suffer a second heart attack and be hospitalized for heart failure, compared to their peers who didn’t use beta-blockers. Moreover, cardiovascular-caused mortality was three times higher in beta-blocker patients.

“These findings will reshape all international clinical guidelines on the use of beta-blockers in men and women and should spark a long-needed, sex-specific approach to treatment for cardiovascular disease,” senior study author Valentin Fuster, PhD, president of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in New York City and general director of the National Center for Cardiovascular Investigation in Madrid, told CNN.

Study author Borja Ibáñez, PhD, called the study “significant,” noting that this clinical trial studied the largest-ever population of women patients taking beta-blockers after a heart attack.

A left ventricular ejection fraction below 40 percent is an indicator for potential heart failure, whereas fraction levels above 50 percent are considered “normal.” As CNN explains, “Ejection fraction is a way of measuring how well the left side of the heart is pumping oxygenated blood throughout the body.” Heart attack patients in the former category are often recommended beta-blockers as the best course of treatment.

Stents and blood thinners can also help curb these odds, though many doctors still use beta-blockers as a fallback.

“Yet at this time, some 80% of patients in the US, Europe and Asia are treated with beta-blockers because medical guidelines still recommend them,” said Ibáñez. “While we often test new drugs, it’s much less common to rigorously question the continued need for older treatments.”

The post 2 Major Medicine Discoveries About Your Heart Attack Risk appeared first on Best Life.

This is a common theme in women who don’t exhibit the standard modified risk factors for heart disease—medically referred to as “SMuRFs”— and they’re subsequently deemed “healthy” by their doctor.

The four primary SMuRFs include hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking. However, the statistics don’t lie: You can be “SMuRF-Less” and still have a heart attack or stroke.

RELATED: Taking 1 Common Medicine Could Prevent 100,000 Heart Attacks A Year, Research Finds.

A blood test called hsCRP could help identify women who are at risk but fly under the radar with traditional screening methods, according to a new preventive cardiology study published in The European Heart Journal. The research was carried out by doctors from Mass General Brigham and is being presented at the 2025 European Society of Cardiology Congress.

“Women who suffer from heart attacks and strokes yet have no standard modifiable risk factors are not identified by the risk equations doctors use in daily practice,” Paul Ridker, MD, MPH, a preventive cardiologist at Mass General Brigham’s Heart and Vascular Institute, said in a press release.

“Yet our data clearly show that apparently healthy women who are inflamed are at substantial lifetime risk. We should be identifying these women in their 40s, at a time when they can initiate preventive care, not wait for the disease to establish itself in their 70s when it is often too late to make a real difference,” he continued.

The hsCRP stands for a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein test. C-reactive proteins are made by the liver, and an increased level of CRP indicates that there is inflammation in the body, explains Mayo Clinic.

“A high level of hs-CRP in the blood has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks. Also, people who have had a heart attack are more likely to have another heart attack if they have a high hs-CRP level. But their risk goes down when their hs-CRP level is in the typical range,” notes the clinic.

For the study, the research team assessed 12,530 healthy, SMuRF-Less women. Participants completed the hsCRP blood test at baseline and were observed over the course of 30 years. A total of 973 first major cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke, occurred during this period.

Although relatively healthy otherwise, women were considered inflamed and at-risk for cardiac issues if their hsCRP levels were greater than 3 mg/L. (For reference, Mayo Clinic considers hs-CRP levels less than 2 mg/L as “lower risk of heart disease,” and hs-CRP levels equal to or greater than 2 mg/L as “higher risk.”)

Results showed women with high hsCRP levels had a:

• 77 percent increased lifetime risk of coronary heart disease.
• 52 percent increased lifetime risk of suffering from any major cardiovascular event.
• 39 percent increased lifetime risk of stroke.

RELATED: 85% of Unvaccinated Women Will Likely Get This Virus—And New Research Links It to Heart Disease.

However, the study authors say that statins can help lower heart attack and stroke risk by 38 percent in “SMuRF-Less but inflamed” individuals.

“While those with inflammation should aggressively initiate lifestyle and behavioral preventive efforts, statin therapy could also play an important role in helping reduce risk among these individuals,” said Ridker.

Hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking are the top four major risk factors for heart disease, but obesity, age, family history, poor diet, lack of exercise, and drinking can also increase your risk.

It’s important to note that heart attacks often manifest differently in women than in men. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, common heart attack symptoms in women include pain/discomfort in the upper body, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, cold sweats, fatigue, and nausea and vomiting.

As suggested by Johns Hopkins, here are seven ways you can prevent an early heart attack:

• Maintain a healthy weight
• Follow a heart-healthy diet
• Get regular exercise
• Limit your alcohol intake
• Move throughout the day (try to avoid long periods of sitting, especially if you work at a desk)
• Manage stress
• Hace an annual checkup and stay on top of SMuRFs

The post Why Are Healthy Women Having Heart Attacks and Strokes? appeared first on Best Life.

RELATED: Gastroenterologist Reveals 3 Vegetables He Eats for Liver Health.

What, exactly, is inflammation, and why is it harmful?

Inflammation and anti-inflammatory diets get discussed a lot these days, especially on social media, where there’s a lot of misinformation. So, let’s break it down.

As Cleveland Clinic explains, “Inflammation is your body’s response to an illness, injury, or something that doesn’t belong in your body (like germs or toxic chemicals). Inflammation is a normal and important process that allows your body to heal.”

Blen Tesfu, MD, a general practitioner and medical adviser at Welzo, previously told Best Life, “When the body detects an infection, the immune system responds by releasing various chemicals that cause blood vessels to dilate and increase blood flow to the affected area. This influx of immune cells and fluid causes redness, swelling, and heat.” For example, a fever is an inflammatory response.

However, when there’s no cause for inflammation, or when it persists for longer than usual, it’s considered chronic inflammation and can be associated with cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, gastrointestinal diseases, lung diseases, anxiety and depression, and more.

Chronic inflammation can be caused by stress, obesity, lack of exercise, imbalances in the gut microbiome, hormonal imbalances, poor sleep, smoking, and drinking excessively.

It can also be caused by diet. The most harmful are foods that are high in trans fats, sugar, salt, or refined starches. Red meat and processed foods are two of the worst offenders.

As Best Life previously explained, foods that have been shown to reduce inflammation are:

• Those high in omega-3s (like salmon, anchovies, chia seeds, and walnuts)
• Fruit, especially berries, since they are high in vitamin C and antioxidants
• Green leafy vegetables
• Spices like turmeric and garlic
• Green tea

However, Bowring points out that certain vegetables can have the opposite effect.

RELATED: This 2-Ingredient Water Hack Can Help Fight Inflammation, Weight Gain, and More.

Nightshade vegetables can be pro-inflammatory.

Nightshade vegetables are those that contain chemical compounds called alkaloids, says Cleveland Clinic. One such alkaloid is solanine, which acts as a natural pesticide to ward off pests and fungi. It’s found in the following vegetables:

• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Bell peppers
• Sugar beets
• Eggplant

In general, solanine is not harmful to humans. However, it can be toxic if consumed in excess amounts. One scenario in which this could potentially occur is when potatoes turn green, because they then release a lot more solanine than usual.

According to Bowring, some people may have a sensitivity to solanine, and in these cases, “when you’re eating too many of these vegetables, it could be pro-inflammatory.” She notes that this could then worsen symptoms of arthritis, diabetes, or heart disease.

Some research does corroborate her point. A 2020 study that compiled an anti-inflammatory diet for those with rheumatoid arthritis suggested that vegetables containing solanine can damage the gut lining, thereby making inflammation worse. And over the years, many people suffering from arthritis have claimed these vegetables aggravate their symptoms.

However, with the limited evidence available, most doctors agree that the decision to avoid or limit nightshade vegetables should be made on a case-by-case basis.

“It is highly unlikely that avoiding the trace amounts of solanine found in nightshade vegetables will ease your arthritic pain or inflammation,” rheumatologist Leonard Calabrese, DO, told Cleveland Clinic. “Research to support this claim just isn’t there.”

Similarly, registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, told Cleveland Clinic that it’s most important to speak with your doctor about a potential nightshade sensitivity if you believe these vegetables are causing inflammation in your body.

“A food sensitivity is very patient-specific and can often be a symptom of another imbalance rather than a permanent problem with that food,” she said. “If nightshades are a trigger for inflammation, it’s typically a message that there is an underlying imbalance perpetuating chronic, low levels of inflammation, and nightshades are just fuel for the fire.”

Your doctor may decide to test an elimination diet in which you avoid nightshade vegetables to see if your symptoms improve.

The post 5 Vegetables That Can Increase Inflammation, Doctor Cautions appeared first on Best Life.