Healthy Body-Healthy Brain

12/15/2025

I've always been wary of the chemical sweeteners, besides hating how they taste.

It's been marketed for years as the “good guy”..

12/04/2025

Check all cleaning labels.

How to avoid toxic ingredients

12/02/2025

Trust me, when you’re 70-80 years old, you’re going to either regret that you didn’t or be grateful that you did do everything in your power to nourish your brain when you were in your younger years of life. Studies have revealed that playing a musical instrument (learning and practicing) builds more new neural connections (neuroplasticity) in the brain than almost any other activity on the planet.

Playing an instrument engages nearly every part of the brain at once, including auditory (sound), motor (movement), and visual (reading music) areas. This simultaneous activation strengthens neural pathways and the connections between them.

The process of translating written music (visual) into precise finger movements (motor) and hearing the correct sound (auditory) forces the brain to integrate information from different sense. This improves cognitive flexibility and the ability to multitask.

Unlike skills that are learned and then automated (like tying your shoelaces), playing music involves a continuous process of learning new techniques, memorizing passages and improvising. This constant challenge of mastering new skills maintains and strengthens neuroplasticity throughout life.

Additionally, long-term musical training can lead to both structural and functional changes in the brain. For example, studies show musicians often have larger gray matter volumes in areas related to motor, auditory, and visuospatial processing, as well as a larger corpus callosum.

Also, the act of learning new music helps create new synapses (connections between neurons), while repetitive practice strengthens existing ones. This is a key mechanism of neuroplasticity that allows information to be processed more efficiently.

Playing also requires complex cognitive control, including planning, attention and working memory. The brain strengthens the neural networks associated with these functions, which can lead to better focus and organization in other areas of life.

PMID: 29213699, 38178844, 20889966, 33776638, 25725909, 24672420

11/21/2025

The Morning Hack I Swear By for Better Sleep - Dhru Purohit

A new study of 1,762 adults found that getting sun before 10:00 a.m. was strongly linked with better sleep patterns and circadian rhythm alignment. https://bit.ly/4ibnFKJ

Specifically, for every additional 30 minutes of morning sunshine exposure, the “midpoint of sleep” (i.e., the halfway mark between falling asleep and waking up) shifted about 23 minutes earlier. That earlier sleep midpoint is a good thing, as it suggests you're more in alignment with natural sleep-wake cycles.

The study also showed that more morning sun was tied to better overall sleep quality.

I’ve been doing this for a while, and here’s my recommendation: go for a morning walk, have coffee on your patio, take your dog out, take the kids out, or listen to your podcast while you sit on your front steps. Not only will you sleep better, but your mood will likely improve because let’s be real: being outside, getting fresh air, seeing some trees, the sky and neighbors is a way better than being indoors staring at a screen first thing in the morning.

Background Recent lifestyle changes have reduced sunlight exposure, impacting circadian rhythms and sleep regulation. This study investigates how sunlight exposure at different times of the day affects sleep parameters. Methods This cross-sectional study included 1,762 adults from the Iron Quadrilat...

11/17/2025

I love Trader Joe's.

Discover the best hidden gems at Trader Joe’s, recommended by employees. From dips to frozen favorites, see what you might be missing.

11/13/2025

... focus on exercise snacks. Walk up 1–3 flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator, for example. Personally, I’ll do some sets of push-ups or wall squats during my breaks while I’m in between patients at the clinic. I can easily do a 1–2-minute bout of activity 3–5 times a day. On clinic days, I don’t have to head to the gym, I don’t need special equipment, and I don’t have to shower afterward because the duration of each exercise snack is small enough that I don’t work up a sweat. And by pursuing this strategy consistently, we can reap the lion’s share of the benefits of exercise."

11/11/2025

10/26/2025

Yes!

10/07/2025

Exercise Snacks

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

10/03/2025

This key component of Mark Hyman's UltraSimple program can assist your body in expelling toxins and tamping down inflammation and cravings.