Growing up, I hated traveling, though I couldn鈥檛 pinpoint why. All I knew was that the unfamiliarity of everything from hotel bed sheets to cultural customs felt wholly dysregulating.

When I was diagnosed with ADHD and autism at the ages of 19 and 22, respectively, everything clicked into place, and I was catapulted into a journey of self-discovery and acceptance. I realized the problem wasn鈥檛 travel鈥攊t was unmet needs.

, a UK-based psychologist who specializes in treating emotional issues and autism spectrum disorders, says, 鈥淏eing neurodivergent in a neurotypical world can be exhausting, especially while traveling.鈥� But, with a careful plan that honors your needs, she says travel can be an incredibly enriching experience for neurodivergent folks.

So, in November 2024, I booked a six-day solo trip from New York City听to Western Europe. I鈥檇 spend four days in Amsterdam, staying in a shared hostel room, and two days in Paris, opting for a private hostel room. I was excited for the adventure, but I knew I鈥檇 need to scrap the idea of what a good trip should look like.

As a neurodivergent person, my needs, particularly sensory and social, may look different than a neurotypical person鈥檚, so it was important for me to make a highly personalized plan.

Here鈥檚 what I did to accommodate my needs on my trip鈥攁nd what I鈥檒l do differently next time.

1. Noise-Cancelling Headphones Are a Must

When I was packing up my bag, I made sure to include noise-cancelling headphones and earplugs to manage my sensory sensitivities. When I鈥檓 in environments with loud or conflicting noises, like train stations, museums, and airports, my fight-or-flight reaction revs up, and I become anxious, agitated, and even struggle to think clearly.

I typically use the to dim the noise, but I opted for disposable earplugs on this trip so I wouldn鈥檛 risk losing my own. My headphones are particularly beneficial during bedtime because I鈥檓 sensitive to sounds like buzzing machinery or breathing when trying to fall asleep.

2. Attaching Items to My Body Helped Quell Fears of Losing Them

I didn鈥檛 check a bag and kept most of my belongings in a large backpack, but I stored all of my valuables, such as my ID, passport, and wallet, in a fanny pack around my waist.

As someone who often on the what-ifs, courtesy of autism’s differences in cognitive processing, and an extensive history of , courtesy of ADHD’s differences in working memory and executive functioning, it was nice to have a degree of security.

Having my essentials physically attached to my body was a helpful, tactile way to assure myself I had everything I needed. Whenever I found myself worrying I was missing something, I鈥檇 just touch my fanny pack and know everything was in place. I had only planned to use the fanny pack during travel, but I ended up wearing it every day.

3. I Abandoned the Belief That I Needed to “See It All”

I knew that trying to cram in as much sightseeing as possible would be a fast track to burnout, so I opted for flexible planning based on my moment-to-moment energy levels. I drafted a loose plan for each day, with one or two activities to frame my time around.

On my first full day in Paris, I planned a morning trip to the Carnavalet Museum, the city’s oldest museum, and an evening stroll through the shops in the Arts et M茅tiers neighborhood. While I initially worried my empty afternoon was a 鈥渨aste鈥� of the city,听 having less on my plate meant less worrying about managing details like getting to the right place at the right time and getting tickets organized. All of this extra time meant I was able to take a beat and decompress in my room鈥攚hich brings me to my next point.

4. I Blocked Out Time to Chill and Regulate My Emotions

Alone time can be an important time for many neurodivergent individuals, , to self-regulate, process emotions, reduce sensory overwhelm, and recharge social battery.

I scheduled daily time for rest in the afternoon, both in my hostel room and in my private room. I closed the blinds and just listened to my comfort music, largely songs from Broadway musicals. Taking time for myself to be alone and disengage from the chaos outside allowed me to be more present in the activities I did choose to do.

5. A Good Night鈥檚 Sleep Is Non-Negotiable

I prioritized quality sleep. I know I don鈥檛 operate well without a good night’s rest, so while the others in my hostel got up bright and early, I made sure to stay in bed until my body was ready (which sometimes looked as late as 11 A.M.).

I may have missed out on some landmarks, but giving myself additional time to rest allowed me to truly relish and appreciate the beauty of the ones I did see.

6. I Tested Out Different Housing Accommodations

I booked a four-person hostel room in Amsterdam because I wanted to save money on housing, and, quite frankly, I was curious to see how I鈥檇 handle it. I strongly disliked sleepovers growing up because they disrupted my sleep routine and need for alone time, but I wanted to know if I鈥檇 feel the same in a hostel situation.

Because I had an inkling that staying in a hostel would be a stretch for me, I splurged on a private room in a hostel for myself in Paris. I booked both of these accommodations about a month before my trip.

By day three in Amsterdam, I felt myself shutting down and feeling stressed by my inability to 鈥渆scape鈥� the world around me. Knowing that I鈥檇 soon be able to hunker down in a private room in Paris kept me feeling optimistic. I鈥檓 so glad I booked the private room, as it allowed me to decompress in a quiet, dark space and reenergize myself for my last two days of sightseeing.

Not Everything on My Trip Went Smoothly. Here’s What I’ll Do Differently Next Time.

I’ll Never Book a Middle Seat Again

I often feel stressed and restless during long plane or train rides, so next time I鈥檒l seek out aisle seats, rather than the middle seats I chose to save money, for easy access to stand up or use the restroom. This will also relieve the anxiety of having to interact with the people in my row to get up, which can be a barrier for me to address my need for movement.

Ker adds that some neurodivergent folks may like wearing a while traveling, which people with invisible disabilities use as a way to signal that they may need extra support. She also adds that 鈥渕any large stations and airports offer support to those that need help finding their way around, a quiet area or early boarding.鈥�

Night Travel Is Out of the Question

I chose a late-night train ride from Amsterdam to Paris to maximize my time, but it disrupted my nighttime routine and sleep schedule, and I paid the price the next day in fatigue and stress. My nighttime routine is sacred to me and makes me feel safe, comfortable, and regulated, so I will prioritize keeping that in check above all else.

Ker encourages neurodivergent folks to consider what things will help them feel regulated and relaxed. 鈥淭ry to anchor your day with some predictable routines where you can.鈥�

I’ll Keep My Documents More Organized

Although I had all my essentials tucked into my fanny pack, I鈥檇 like to keep a more robust digital library of my tickets and documents. I often found myself fumbling around for tickets and worrying that somehow something was lost. 鈥淔or a neurodivergent brain that struggles with tasks relating to executive function, carefully planning, making lists, and having backup plans in case of missed trains might be important,鈥� says Ker.

Finding More Moments of Solitude

I would consider budgeting better in other areas, like food and transportation, in order to afford a solo room in a hostel or hotel. I think I would鈥檝e enjoyed my trip more and had fewer crashes if I were able to retreat to my own space at will. Ker suggests that neurodivergent people allot space for alone time and adequate rest. Don鈥檛 fall into the trap of trying to cram in too much,鈥� she says.

Bring Better Earplugs

Next time, I’ll bring along some stronger earplugs to help me create the illusion of solitude when it鈥檚 not possible. I really struggled in the hostel because I felt dysregulated by the sound of people moving and breathing, so I would have benefited from bringing a higher-quality pair of plugs.

No More Winter Trips

Ker encourages neurodivergent folks to really consider where they want to go. 鈥淪ome cultures are more neurodivergent friendly than others. Do you prefer busy cities or rural mountains? Do you have a passion or interest motivating your travel?鈥�

For me, this means traveling during warmer months or to a warmer destination. My wintertime trip made me realize that I dislike the sensation of wearing heavy clothes, and I struggle with the transition of putting layers on and taking them off. Being in a warmer environment would be a game-changer.

My first solo travel experience was magical and challenging all at once, and I can鈥檛 wait for the next. I鈥檓 still learning to take things slow, listening to my body, and unassigning myself from the neurotypical standard of what traveling should look like.

Want more听国产吃瓜黑料听health stories?听.

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If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free from anywhere in the U.S. at 1-800-273-8255.

Tangerine flames swirled as Gerry Ward sat fireside, deep in thought, with campfire crackles and wafts of ember taking his mind far beyond the Scottish Highland surroundings. It鈥檚 a scene many of us know well: a starlit woodland evening spent cozied up around a fire ring. Yet for Ward, this solo backpacking trip beneath Scotland鈥檚 Cairngorms mountains was about more than stars and s鈥檓ores. Ward, now 56, had spent most of his adolescence and early adult years navigating deep-seated childhood trauma, which eventually led to issues like chronic anxiety and alcohol abuse. Solo treks through his native Scotland during the height of his struggles, his thirties, provided rare solace from stress, trauma, and depression. 鈥淚 was connecting with nature as a remedy to escape from all of that,鈥� he recalls.

When Ward became a father at age 42, he knew he had to get clean. 鈥淚 got professional help, but what helped me most of all was going back to nature,鈥� Ward says. For him, the fire-building process, from gathering raw materials to starting and then watching the blaze, was the most therapeutic part. 鈥淥nce the fire鈥檚 going, that鈥檚 when the real connection starts. The fire cracks, the smells鈥攊t goes back into our subconscious minds. We connect with our primeval brain, and that connection is a quarter of a million years old.鈥�

Ward spent every spare weekend for more than a decade navigating recovery via these solitary fireside meditations. After realizing how much it helped him, Ward invited a friend who was struggling to join, too. It turns out, campfire camaraderie was what they both needed. 鈥淲hen you get two people around the fire, the inevitable happens: you start talking,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e were sharing things we would never normally share, like deep-rooted trauma. By just talking about something, you鈥檙e breaking the power it has over you.鈥�

Since 2021, Ward has been using the healing benefits of fire to help those struggling with mental health challenges and addiction through his Scotland-based nonprofit, . He runs monthly retreats in Scotland鈥檚 great outdoors that harness the healing power of campfires. He鈥檚 not the only one tapping into fire鈥檚 therapeutic effects.

As the popularity of eco- and adventure-therapy grows, so, too, does the role of campfires. 鈥淔ire, like the other natural elements, has the ability to help someone be more comfortable in the discomfort of change processes like therapy,鈥� says Brian Strozewski, a certified clinical adventure therapist and founder of Ohio-based .

Campfire therapy is simple: the idea is to use the fire ring鈥檚 healing and soothing benefits to help people open up while navigating trauma. in the journal Evolutionary Psychology suggested that fireside sitting can decrease blood pressure, foster relaxation, and improve social interactions. Counselors and organizations around the world have watched these results unfold before their eyes.

鈥淪itting around campfires, being around likeminded individuals who have gone through similar trauma experiences, then having the opportunity to talk in a safe environment about your trauma鈥攖hose are all healing things,鈥� says combat-wounded Marine Corporal of U.S.-based , a nonprofit that uses eco-therapy and specialized care to help post-9/11 veterans improve mental and physical health.

It鈥檚 a critical need; suicide is the second-leading cause of all post-9/11 veteran deaths.

The White Heart Foundation hosts eco-adventure therapy retreats to help veterans and first responders cope with trauma and psychological stressors from the frontline. The trips, run among the pines and peaks of Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, and Colorado, fulfill participants鈥� adrenaline needs with adventures like rock climbing and whitewater rafting. 鈥淭he healing comes when people sit around the fire,鈥� Morgan says.

Fireside sharing is peer-led. Veteran mentors, such as Morgan, a Purple Heart recipient who lost his legs during an IED accident in Afghanistan, start with their own personal stories. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had groups with people extremely closed off, they hardly say a single word during the first couple of days of the trip,鈥� says Morgan. 鈥淏y the end, they鈥檙e sharing their story with everyone. It鈥檚 an amazing transformation.鈥�

As , sharing feelings, especially putting negative emotions and experiences into words, is an important step toward recovery and improved mental health. Ward says the fire provides a safe, less vulnerable place to open up.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not speaking to me, or anyone in particular. They鈥檙e speaking to the fire,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e watched someone do an entire share of 45 minutes, and blink two or three times [without looking] at an individual. That鈥檚 the start of the healing process.鈥�

Let鈥檚 be very clear: Fireside sharing, or really any sort of therapeutic nature experiences, is only one part of a more extensive therapy program. 鈥淪itting by a campfire is not a magical fix to the issues,鈥� says Morgan, noting many veteran participants have seen, or continue to see, therapists or counselors. 鈥淚 believe [campfire sharing] is a helpful gateway for individuals to realize they need professional help.鈥�

Some therapists, including Strozewski, use natural elements, such as forests and campfires, to aid their sessions. 鈥淚 connect with nature as more of a co-regulator, almost like a friend or partner who is present to help the person be regulated, to feel safe, and to have internal balance,鈥� he says. And, just like, say, rock climbing, isn鈥檛 for everyone, Strozewski notes that fireside chatting isn鈥檛 always the right call. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to consider someone鈥檚 existing relationship with fire.鈥�

One reason Strozewski says campfires work well with nature therapy is that they鈥檙e a symbol of letting go. 鈥淟etting go of the pains and learning what that process is like is necessary so we aren鈥檛 tethered [to negative emotions],鈥� he says. 鈥淲e can move forward to what鈥檚 next.鈥�

For years, certified therapeutic recreation specialist Kevin Gruzewski watched this release firsthand. He ran at a residential facility for teenage boys undergoing drug rehabilitation and mental health recovery in Chicago, Illinois. During these sessions, the teens jotted down their regrets, gathered by a fire, and tossed the papers into the flames. After experiencing the fire鈥檚 therapeutic effects, they enjoyed the lighthearted fun many associate with campfire hangouts: talking, joking, playing games, and sharing s鈥檓ores.

鈥淢ost of them were from the inner city; they hadn鈥檛 experienced a bonfire or being in nature,鈥� Gruzewski says. 鈥淪ome of the boys did or dealt with pretty rough things, so you could tell some of them liked that feeling of letting go, even just for that moment.鈥�

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I don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 more perplexed: me or the deer? It鈥檚 dawn on the Fourth of July and I鈥檓 lugging my 14-foot inflatable SUP and three dry bags across River Street in Troy, New York, burping bacon from the breakfast buffet. Downtown is drizzly and deserted, just me and the ungulate locking eyes across a hotel parking lot, two fish out of water.

Within minutes, I鈥檓 launching onto the Hudson River, an early start to catch the ebb that鈥檒l ease my passage along this 153-mile estuary to the Atlantic. Also, with the temperature and humidity rising, to beat the heat. My usual hack for cooling off鈥攖wo swims an hour, repeat鈥攊sn鈥檛 recommended today on this stretch of river. Too much rain for the sewage system. 鈥淲atch out for floaters,鈥� a local had advised.

I鈥檓 celebrating America鈥檚 birthday nearly three weeks into a clockwise 1,200-mile circumnavigation from Ottawa, where I live, back home via Montreal, New York City, Buffalo, and Toronto. Distraught about apocalyptic climate change and toxic tech bros, on the cusp of 50 and uninspired by office work, I sought deliverance by dipping a blade. As an obsessive paddleboarder, I knew how good I felt while on the water. I鈥檇 also poked around the curative properties of 鈥渂lue space鈥� as a journalist, talking to researchers who study the psychological and physiological spinoffs from spending time in aquatic environments. Why not test these theories on myself?

Which sounded like a good excuse to spend a couple months paddling, camping, and hanging out with other folks drawn to the water. Except it鈥檚 shaping up to be one of the hottest summers ever. And now, past Albany, the clouds and wildfire smoke have parted, the sun is blazing and the E. coli-flecked tidal current has turned against me.

Feeling dizzy, I guzzle lukewarm electrolytes and conveyor-belt energy bars, trying to make it 41 miles to a marina whose owner has given me permission to tent. Jet-skiers wave, families picnic on the shore, eagles glide above green hillsides. At dusk, fireworks burst overhead鈥攆ollowed by streaks of lightning, sphincter-clenching cracks of thunder and a swirling wind, a sudden thunderstorm bearing down from the north. I swing starboard onto Catskill Creek and sprint toward a cluster of boats.

Cinching my leash to a dock, I dash into a building. Turns out it鈥檚 the bar.

鈥淲e鈥檙e closed,鈥� a woman counting cash says without looking up.

I eye three men sitting on stools, half-full drinks in front of them.

鈥淐an I just get a beer and wait out the storm?鈥�

鈥淲hadya want?鈥�

Pint in hand, I answer a barrage of questions from the regulars. Then: backslaps and high fives. One of the bonuses of blue space, I鈥檓 discovering, is camaraderie. Which may be my most corporeal craving.

The science is clear that being in nature rejuvenates our bodies and brains. Boiled down: we鈥檙e more active, less anxious. And though it鈥檚 difficult to differentiate between green and blue spaces, water seems to uncork a multiplier effect.

People are , a pair of British environmental economists determined, gathering more than a million pings on their 鈥淢appiness鈥� app. Blue neighborhoods are 鈥渁ssociated with lower psychological distress,鈥� . Taking the sea air鈥攂reathing in 鈥渂ioactive compounds that may originate from marine algae,鈥� in the parlance of Belgian biologist Jana Asselman鈥�. Oceans, rivers, and even urban fountains also offer opportunities for social interaction, suggests a Scottish literature review, kindling 鈥�.鈥� The kicker to all this is that time on the water, especially among children, promotes 鈥�.鈥� In other words, taking better care of the planet.

Blue space triggers our parasympathetic nervous system, University of Virginia environmental psychologist Jenny Roe said to me before I left home, which basically tells the brain what our bodies are doing and then acts like a brake, dampening the stress response. Water can instill a sense of being away and boundless possibilities, yet also a feeling of compatibility with our location, of comfort and belonging.

Evolutionarily, this makes sense. Even looking at a creek or pool is enough to lower blood pressure and heart rates, a pair of University of California, Davis, psychology researchers .They attribute the link, in part, to our forebears successfully detecting drinking water in arid environments. The caveat, of course, is that amid all this restoration, water can be perilous (floods, storms, drowning, disease). And that exposure鈥攖o both the pros and cons鈥攊s far from equitable. We can鈥檛 all afford to spend the summer on a SUP.

Catskill Creek is socked in by fog when I shove off from the dock in the morning, but within minutes, the rising sun starts to burn through, and I can make out the spindly legs of herons peering into the water for their breakfast. Songbirds coo and chirp from the marshy fringe; tall grasses rustle in the breeze. Nature鈥檚 daily ablutions, biomass breathing.

My own breathing falls into flow and distance comes easily and in two hours I stop for a swim beside a historic lighthouse where a signpost with arrows pointing toward various landmarks informs me that the Statue of Liberty is 103 miles away. The rest of my day follows a familiar, primordial pattern: paddle, swim, birdsong, eat, drink, sunscreen, paddle, swim, sunscreen, birds, drink, eat, paddle, swim, paddle. I鈥檓 focused on basic, immediate tasks, and none of the stresses that sent me down this river seem to matter. Blue space may not have eradicated my existential angst, but it鈥檚 teaching me a few things about balance and perspective. About focusing on the people and places where I am right now.

By early evening, I鈥檓 tying up outside the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston, New York. Established to preserve the region鈥檚 history, the museum now strives to connect visitors to this revitalized watershed and nurture sustainable communities. 鈥淎 sense of place is easy to ignore, unless you鈥檙e on the water,鈥� executive director Lisa Cline says while showing me to the boat building school, where I鈥檒l be bunking. 鈥淲ater slows us down.鈥�

Her words resonate. The stream of cold drinks and homemade snacks and hugs and encouragement and teasing and safeguarding and open-hearted curiosity and care I鈥檓 receiving on this trip, from a kaleidoscopic cross-section of strangers, would not seem possible on land. Perhaps it鈥檚 the decelerated pace, or ancestral memories of its hazards, but we tend to watch out for one another around water. And to me, that鈥檚 reason enough to keep paddling.

Dan Rubinstein is the author of Water Borne: A 1,200 Mile Paddleboarding Pilgrimage, out now.

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The first time I ever went on a silent meditation retreat, 11 years ago, I thought I had entered the zombie apocalypse. After arriving and having dinner with my fellow retreatants, we went into silence. I had considered what it would be like to remain quiet myself for five days (hard, I figured) but not what it would be like to be surrounded by silent people.

The teachers encouraged us not to even look at each other (to focus on our own experience and avoid distractions), so people walked around with their eyes on the ground. We ate meals staring blankly at walls or soup bowls. Even sitting elbow to elbow in the dining room of the Southwest Colorado inn where the retreat was held, no one interacted in any way.

The next day, staring out over the pinon-juniper woodlands, I saw a sea of people plodding slowly in disparate directions as they practiced walking meditation. Step, step, step. It all seemed very weird.

Thus began my passion for silent retreats鈥攈altingly.

I was inspired to sign up for the five-night retreat, organized by the after taking a few beginning meditation classes. Pretty quickly I had seen benefits to daily practice. I wasn’t sure I knew what mindfulness was exactly, but just taking some time to calm my mind helped me manage stress, focus better, and feel more grounded. I figured more meditation, more rewards.

I’m sure there are many people who find retreat practice illuminating and nourishing right off the bat, but I was not one of those people. At first, it felt like a disaster. I didn’t realize that silent meditation really meant silent meditation all day. No extracurricular activities, except one daily 45-minute session of qigong, a Chinese breath, movement and meditation practice, and two short check-ins with a teacher over the course of the retreat. When I arrived at the inn, I looked at the posted schedule and paled:

6 A.M., wake up. Sitting meditation. Breakfast. Sitting meditation. Walking meditation. Sitting meditation. Walking meditation or qigong. Sitting meditation. Lunch. Sitting meditation. Walking meditation. Sitting meditation. Walking meditation. Sitting meditation. Dinner. Sitting meditation. Dharma talk. Sitting meditation. Walking meditation. Chanting. Sitting meditation until you’re ready to fall asleep.

I thought to myself, no arts and crafts? No journaling? The teachers advised us not to read or write, which could stir up unhelpful thinking, and to stay as continuously mindful as possible, even between the formal meditation sessions. Walking to the bathroom? Be mindful. Eating broccoli? Be mindful. Washing dishes? Be mindful.

At first, my mind bucked like a predator in captivity. In the deep quiet, there was nothing to stop my thoughts from racing at top speed, looping, roving, circling, meandering, searching, careening between past regrets and future hopes, pinballing between wanting and not wanting things but mostly hating everything, including myself.

Sometimes I’d see with clarity the same exact thought thinking itself three times in a row. Whose mind was this? Who was doing the thinking? Who was doing the watching? I dutifully ate my vegetarian meals in silence. I trudged along, joining the zombies, practicing walking meditation. I showed up to all of the meditation periods. But I wondered why I was there if all I was doing was suffering.

Around day three, after many tears and regrets and wishing I had never come, something broke. I was sitting in the barn-turned-meditation hall, my body aching, the afternoon sun dimming, the silence deafening, and something just released. The tight fist of my mind loosened its grip. The tornado of thoughts stilled. What was left was profound peace. Everything was clear, still, and calm, like an alpine lake mirroring a cloudless sky. Thoughts wafted by but they were clearly seen like the arc of a bird in flight. I didn’t have a vocabulary for a peace like this. I never knew it existed.

States of mind naturally come and go, but that time of stillness opened me to a powerful truth: there was so much I did not know about the mind and heart鈥攏ot just my own but everyone’s鈥攁nd taking a leap into the unknown could be beneficial beyond my imagination. I was humbled.

I was also intensely curious about what lay beyond my current understanding. I started attending retreats regularly in the Insight tradition of Buddhism. I traveled to centers like in northern New Mexico, in California, and the in Massachusetts for retreats, sometimes as small as 24 people and sometimes as big as 90. I started with retreats spanning between four and nine nights and gradually moved into longer retreats of a month or six weeks.

Accommodations were generally simple: a twin bed, unadorned walls, a place to put my clothes, maybe a sink. There was no entertainment but always good access to nature, whether alpine meadows, aspen groves, mist-shrouded hills, or woodlands aflame with fall colors.

Over time, I came to perceive the silence differently. It began to feel like a relief. I didn’t have to pull myself together for other people, not even in the subtle ways we subconsciously shape ourselves for another’s gaze. In a silence held in community, I actually felt less alone. There was a certain access to my own unedited realness, which allowed me to begin to make friends with my own mind.

People sometimes ask me why I keep going back, particularly on the long retreats, and what I learn or gain. They often seem genuinely perplexed. Sometimes I sense judgment or derision. “At a certain point, Kate, aren’t there diminishing returns?” a family member once asked me. (I shared that with two of my teachers and they laughed so hard they nearly rolled on the ground.)

I could certainly point to the measurable rewards Western science has turned up. Between 1966 and 2021, involving mindfulness appeared in scientific journals, documenting benefits like reduced stress and anxiety, improved focus and clarity, better immune system function, lower blood pressure, and even decreased cellular aging and cognitive decline. One, specifically on multi-day meditation retreats, found significant positive effects on anxiety, stress, and depression, as well as moderate effects on emotional regulation and people’s perceived quality of life. Teachers and longtime meditators joke about the “vipassana facelift,” the visible change in people’s faces after retreat.

Still, all of these factoids feel inadequate in capturing the deeper benefit of sustained meditation practice. Even the question itself鈥�what do I gain?鈥攆eels bound by a paradigm rooted in acquisitiveness, efficiency, and self-orientation. Perhaps a more interesting question is: What am I losing? And what am I offering?

One thing I have learned through meditation practice, on and off retreat, is just how fluid we are as human beings. In the constantly changing flow of my own mind, over time, I have noticed fewer moments of reactivity, judgment, aversion, impatience, frustration, greed, and self-preoccupation. In their wake, more moments of kindness, love, patience, perspective, calm, clarity, and care for others arise. It’s not a linear process, but the way I understand who I am is changing鈥攊n a very freeing way.

These are moments that I can’t graph on a life-optimization app or put on a resum茅 or meaningfully document on Instagram. Probably most of the time, no one notices except me. People tend not to see what is absent: the time I didn’t snap at my husband, the time I didn’t send a nasty email to my colleague, the snide remark I left unsaid. I have plenty of challenging moments, but compared to when I started meditation practice 13 years ago, I suffer a lot less.

If these retreats were only about my own mental health or wellness, however, I can’t imagine I would keep doing so many of them. But I know without a doubt that my practice benefits those around me. Western science bears this out. that mindfulness,, and even happiness are contagious. So is anxiety. We are affected by each other’s presence, whether we’re aware of it or not. Maybe peace within isn鈥檛 actually so separate from peace in the world.

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Last fall, tech entrepreneur and multi-millionaire Bryan Johnson spent two hours having all the plasma in his body removed. There was nothing wrong with his plasma; he simply hoped that replacing it would help him achieve eternal听youth. 听So, despite very limited scientific evidence, Johnson swapped it all for a protein-based fluid called albumin.

It鈥檚 not the first time Johnson鈥檚 pursuit of immortality has made the news. The 47-year-old allegedly spends about $2 million on anti-aging treatments each year. In 2023, he injected himself with a liter of plasma harvested from his then-17-year-old son. At the time, Johnson he was trying to 鈥渂ecome like an 18-year-old.鈥�

I turn 32 this spring. That鈥檚 not old, but it鈥檚 old enough to have gotten my first few wrinkles. Over the last few years, I鈥檝e watched my friends get laser facials and boob jobs. I鈥檝e watched them spend a fortune on face creams and dyes, an endless and expensive game of whack-a-mole with their laugh lines and battle scars. Sometimes it doesn鈥檛 work, and I feel validated. Sometimes, it does, and I feel I鈥檝e been left to grow old alone.

As women, we鈥檙e taught that we are desirable as long as we鈥檙e beautiful. We鈥檙e useful as long as we鈥檙e young. But it鈥檚 not just the cosmetic aspects of aging that scare me. I鈥檓 also afraid of the pain and endless surgeries my grandparents鈥攂oth in their mid-80s鈥攁re enduring right now. I鈥檓 afraid of having to hang up my ice axes and skis, and give up steep trail runs for slow walks around the pond. I鈥檓 afraid of the day that achy knees cost me access to all the places I love.

That fear is very human鈥攁nd very common. While Johnson may be one of the more extreme longevity obsessives, he鈥檚 far from the only one.

You may have heard of 81-year-old real estate mogul Kenneth Scott, who spends about on 鈥渧ampire facials鈥濃�攁 skin treatment involving injections of your own blood plasma鈥攕upplements, and other unproven therapies. Or posh gym chain Equinox, which recently launched a $40,000-per-year membership aimed at helping its members live longer. Other folks go the budget route, paying just $10 to $100 per month for rapamycin, an off-label immunosuppressant that鈥檚 recently become the darling of longevity zealots.

With the advent of experimental new therapies, pop-science books like The Blue Zones, and big-name wellness influencers like Andrew Huberman and Wim Hof, more people than ever are tapping into the longevity trend. According to research firm Grandview, the current longevity market was valued at $37 billion in 2020. By 2028, it鈥檚 projected to .

I get it; I鈥檓 not immune to the allure. But still, when I first started reading about the extreme lengths people go to for longevity鈥攖he plasma swaps, the drugs, the weird diets鈥攎y initial reaction surprised me. It wasn鈥檛 bemused curiosity; it was a flash of fist-balling, brow-sweating, red-hot anger. It pissed me off. I just couldn鈥檛 put my finger on why.

Bound By Biology

It鈥檚 said that there are two certainties in life: death and taxes. And while a privileged few have proven that extreme wealth can help you avoid taxes, they have yet to successfully fend off death. With infinite money and resources, most problems seem solvable. But how much control do we really have over our lifespans?

To find out, I called up Cambridge professor Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan, a Nobel laureate in chemistry and author of Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality.

I chose Ramakrishnan because of his expertise in this field. But, more importantly, he鈥檚 not peddling anything. Unlike other top longevity authors and researchers,听Ramakrishan isn鈥檛 selling a training plan, video course, or pill. He doesn鈥檛 own any longevity-coaching startups, and he doesn鈥檛 have any supplement sponsors forking over a commission.

Our lifespan is dictated by factors outside of our control, Ramakrishnan told me. All our cells undergo regular wear and tear just from living, eating, and surviving. Different species have adapted different strategies for dealing with that wear and tear. Some animals have robust mechanisms for cleaning out problematic cells, which helps them live longer. But developing and maintaining those mechanisms takes energy and biological resources.

That cost might be worth it for a large animal, which isn鈥檛 likely to get eaten quickly. An elephant, say, is going to last a while, so it makes practical sense for the species to develop some strategies for cleaning out dead cells and living longer so it can reproduce more and defend the community group.

Small animals, on the other hand, tend to get eaten pretty early in life. To work with that constraint, they evolved to grow, mature, and reach reproductive age as fast as possible. It never benefitted them to develop sophisticated biochemical machinery for dealing with old age because they never got there. For millions of years, small animals evolved under that constraint. Everything about a rabbit or mouse鈥攆rom their rapidfire puberty to their litter size to their fast metabolisms鈥攁dapted within the bounds of this shorter life. Same with human beings. All of our machinery is adapted to work within a medium-sized lifespan.

In other words, our capacity for longevity is built into the blueprint of our species. It鈥檚 the framework鈥攏ot a feature you can freely dial up or down.

The Illusion of Control 听

Still, some human beings live longer than others. Take Jeanne Calment, the oldest woman who ever lived. She died in 1997 at the age of 122. Allegedly, she also smoked a cigarette and drank a glass of port wine every night.

鈥淪he was simply lucky that she didn鈥檛 come down with cancer or other diseases,鈥� Ramakrishnan says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely luck involved.鈥�

There鈥檚 also genetics. In an old but often-cited on twins, researchers found that about 25 percent of longevity was heritable鈥攊n other words, predetermined by your genes. The remaining 75 percent can be influenced by individual lifestyle factors.

But when it comes to those lifestyle factors, we don’t have as much control as we’d like to think. According to the Social Determinants of Health, a for thinking about factors that influence overall health, our personal habits鈥攍ike eating, smoking, drinking, and exercising鈥攐nly account for about 30 percent of influencing factors. The rest are structural and social forces far harder to control: about 40 percent of a person鈥檚 health is determined by socioeconomic factors, 10 percent by their physical environment, and 20 percent by their access to healthcare.

Even if radical new therapies did come online in our lifetime, there are bigger forces at play here. A in the journal Nature indicates that people cannot live much longer than they do now. There is a cap on the human lifespan, and we鈥檝e reached it. No one has lived to 120 since Calment died. There鈥檚 no guarantee that anyone ever will. At least, not until we cure all cancers, dementia, and other neurological diseases鈥攕omething Ramakrishnan says is still very far off.

The truth is we have little control over our lifespans. Many of us obsess over what we eat and how we exercise not because these habits hold the secret to health and longevity, but because we feel helpless, and are comforted by the illusion of control. But even if you eat and exercise perfectly, you can still die young.

When The Plan Goes Awry

My father wasn鈥檛 perfect. He often worked too much. He stayed up too late. He had a weakness for Little Debbie Nutty Buddies. He once binged an entire season of Game of Thrones in a single sitting even though he鈥檇 sworn to my brother and I that he鈥檇 wait to watch it with us (we鈥檒l forgive him someday). And often, at the dinner table, he would make me laugh so hard I鈥檇 shoot orange juice out my nose.

But he did a lot of things right, both as a dad and as a health-conscious American man. He ate mostly rice and vegetables, wore sunscreen, and woke up at 5:00 A.M. every day to run five miles and lift weights. He was thin. He had a rich social life. He was a good husband and father. He spent time outside. And despite all that, he died from an out-of-nowhere heart attack at age 53.

Six months before my dad鈥檚 funeral, I lost my dear friend and former boyfriend Alexander. He was a vegetarian. He fasted. He鈥檇 just taken the MCAT and was on track to be a doctor. He exercised and stretched. He even flossed every day. And he right before he turned 25.

Both of them听did practically everything right. And they鈥檙e gone.

And that, I realized, is why I鈥檓 angry.

Johnson often wears a T-shirt that says 鈥淒on鈥檛 Die,鈥� as if it was that easy. As if, for my dad, it was avoidable鈥攁nd all his fault for not doing the right things or adopting the correct obscure therapies soon enough.

As if, instead of spending his free time with his family, he should have been flying to Dallas to get his plasma replaced or consulting with overpaid doctors about a custom nutrition plan. As if that would have saved him. As if any of us could be so arrogant as to pretend to play defense with the Reaper.

Can You Extend Your Life?

Of course, it鈥檚 Johnson鈥檚 prerogative to spend his free time pursuing various therapies and longevity-boosting routines. We all have our hobbies. And maybe it鈥檚 not my place to say this is a less-worthwhile use of time than dodging cactuses on a steep trail run under the hot Colorado sun, which is how I spend many of my free afternoons.

The good news is that some studies show that lifestyle choices can make some difference鈥攁nd even help offset our genes. One long-term study published in 2021 examined more than 350,000 individuals with DNA markers indicating they were genetically predisposed to early death. The study showed that exercise and other healthy habits reduced that chance of early death in those populations by . The effects aren鈥檛 necessarily dramatic. The researchers estimated that even if you adopt such habits by age 40, they鈥檙e only likely to add about five years to your life. Still, eating relatively healthy and exercising: definitely good for you.

The nitty gritty of what you eat or how you exercise tends to be less important. A recent study shows that only exercising on weekends is just as beneficial for your health as sticking to a strict daily routine. Concepts like the Blue Zone Theory鈥攚hich purports that people living in certain areas of the world hold the secrets to longevity鈥攔est on shaky science, according to critics.

However, some research shows that how much you eat does matter. In animal studies, animals placed on restrictive diets tend to live longer than those that aren鈥檛. A quick caveat, though: these fasting studies often use animals on a gluttonous, all-you-can-eat diet as the control group. They don鈥檛 always compare fasting mice to mice who eat in moderation.

鈥淪o these studies might just show that all-you-can-eat isn鈥檛 healthy, not necessarily that fasting is the benefit,鈥� Ramakrishnan says. Regardless, the science does indicate that caloric intake makes a difference.

Sleep is another big lever you can pull. One of more than 700,000 U.S. veterans showed that folks who slept at least seven hours a night lived 18 percent longer on average. And even if you don鈥檛 sleep a ton, sticking to a can also increase your life expectancy.

Cold-exposure therapy and contrast therapy (the practice of alternating between heat and cold) are also commonly touted as ways to boost longevity. But while cold therapy has been shown to help 鈥攂oth contributors to chronic disease鈥攖he effects aren鈥檛 necessarily long-lasting. Longevity studies thus far have mostly been limited to mice and worms. There鈥檚 no evidence that cold exposure can make human beings live longer.

Does Biohacking Really Work?

So, what about the biohacking stuff鈥攖he rapamycin and the lasers and the thing Kenneth Scott does where he bathes his face in his own blood? Does that give us the power to take back control?

Ramakrishnan calls some of these therapies 鈥減romising.鈥� Rapamycin, for example, mimics the effects of calorie restriction by targeting similar metabolic pathways. In mice, rapamycin has been shown to extend lives by 20 percent. But humans aren鈥檛 mice.It’s also only FDA-approved as an immunosuppressant for organ transplant patients, because it helps prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. Its side effects include slower wound healing and a higher risk of infection鈥攖he opposite of what you want if you鈥檙e trying to live forever.

Stem cells are another promising (albeit new) area of research, Ramakrishan says. So are genetics鈥攊.e., reprogramming cells. However, both involve injecting human beings with new cells or new DNA, which is difficult to do safely.

Johnson鈥檚 plasma replacement strategy represents another approach: cleaning out senescent cells that have stopped dividing because they鈥檙e too old. Scientists think they can have a domino effect on nearby cells, causing them to become senescent, too. This is an enormously complex process, though. And while plasma replacement sounds good in theory, it might not actually address any of the root causes of senescence. We just don鈥檛 know yet.

In other words, the science on all of this is new. The studies that do exist are small and mostly inconclusive. And many of the folks who say otherwise are trying to sell you something.

Yes, there are some promising therapies and drugs on the horizon, Ramakrishnan says, but it could take decades before they鈥檙e available. Plus, they鈥檙e expensive and time consuming.

As I researched, I started to do some mental math, adding up all the time I鈥檇 spend planning out therapies, working to pay for them, and agonizing over whether or not they worked. I realized it wasn鈥檛 worth it: I was more likely to spend years missing my life by trying to extend it. Perhaps the right question to ask isn鈥檛 how to live a longer life, but how to live a better life.

The Gift of Growing Old

When I started writing this story, I wanted to punch Johnson in the teeth. For his dumb shirt. For his arrogance. But now, I just want to shake him. He鈥攁nd all of his adherents鈥攁re missing the point: the hours you spend swapping plasma or getting your skin lasered to look younger are hours you could be spending with your family and friends. The money you spend on rapamycin could go toward a plane ticket to visit that college roommate you haven鈥檛 seen in ages, or to a date night with your partner. Spend it on a scuba certification, a telescope that lets you see the stars, a skydive, a dance lesson, a concert. On any one of a million things that make this life worth living.

I think of the afternoons I鈥檝e spent flopped on my housemate鈥檚 bed, talking between sunbeams about what it means to grow older. I think of the pre-party minutes we鈥檝e spent examining each other鈥檚 roots, our new freckles, the pudgy bellies we laughed over. I have such fond memories of growing up鈥攅ven when it was hard or painful or ugly. I want fond memories of growing old, too.

Alexander never got the chance to watch his hair go gray, or to see time etch his laugh lines into place. He will be 24 forever. I think often of how much he鈥檚 missed.

If I鈥檝e learned anything from his death鈥攐r that of my dad鈥攊t鈥檚 that aging is a privilege. It鈥檚 precious and bittersweet and wonderfully human. It isn鈥檛 easy. But nothing worth doing is.

The post It鈥檚 Time to Give Up on the Longevity Experiment appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

If it weren鈥檛 for travel, Margie Goldsmith, age 80, says she would have died at least three times by now. Ten years ago, the globe-trotting author and travel writer endured a risky surgery for pancreatic cancer. Two years later, the cancer returned. A few years after that, Goldsmith was diagnosed with lung cancer. She survived it all, she is sure, because she鈥檚 been a world traveler for 50 years.

You鈥檒l be forgiven if you鈥檙e a little skeptical. After all, globetrotting isn鈥檛 often a prescription for the ill or infirm. But recent research suggests that travel and tourism could have powerful impacts on your health and even longevity.

How Travel Helps to Slow Aging

According to a this fall by Fengli Hu, a PhD candidate at Edith Cowen University in Perth, Australia, travel could be a powerful tool for slowing down the aging process. Hu鈥檚 main theory is fairly straightforward: Many of the lifestyle practices medical and mental-health experts endorse鈥攍ike social engagement, appreciating nature, walking, and learning new things鈥攁re intrinsic to travel.

But the novelty of Hu鈥檚 research is that it creates a foundation for thinking about travel in terms of entropy. Travel, she writes, is a way to maintain a 鈥渓ow-entropy state鈥濃�攊n other words, a state of optimal health and efficient bodily function. Since she published the paper, dozens of media outlets have covered her work.

In a video call with 国产吃瓜黑料, Hu says she didn鈥檛 expect so much attention, especially given that the research is only theoretical at this point. She鈥檚 just begun to set up the related experiments, which will be completed in 2025. But the interest makes sense.

She says, 鈥淢any people are looking for a way to keep young and healthy, and travel can be a cost-effective way to improve their physical and mental health and slow down the aging process.鈥� It鈥檚 cost effective, she says, because folks don鈥檛 necessarily have to travel to pricey, far-flung locations to experience the benefits.

The theory of entropy comes from physics; it refers to the natural tendency of systems to move from a state of organization and order to one of chaos and disorder. Entropy has also been used as a framework for thinking about aging and disease. When you鈥檙e young and healthy, your internal systems run smoothly. That鈥檚 order. As you age, cellular mutations and dysfunctions proliferate. That鈥檚 disorder鈥攁 high-entropy state.

Entropy almost always moves in one direction, Hu says, 鈥渂ut can be mitigated or slowed down with certain measures.鈥� Being a tourist, she says, may be one.

Travel鈥攖hat is, relaxing, leisure-focused travel鈥攈as the power to reduce stress, it encourages exercise, and it forces you to meet and socialize with new people. All of that keeps you sharp and optimizes your body鈥檚 performance and efficiency. As a result, Hu says, it could help you stave off physical and mental decline and potentially live longer.

How Travel Relieves Stress

Goldsmith started traveling when she was 32, in the wake of a nasty divorce. She needed something to pull her out of depression, and she鈥檇 always wanted to go to the Galapagos. So, she went.

鈥淭hey say you can move a muscle, change a thought,鈥� Goldsmith says. 鈥淲ell, it turns out you can also move your location and change a thought.鈥�

The change was exhilarating. Since then, Goldsmith has traveled to 149 countries. Travel has made her a more generous, compassionate person, she says. It鈥檚 also made her more resilient.

鈥淚 look at people my age, and they look like my grandmother,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e bent over with arthritis and they鈥檙e not moving. That will never be me. Travel gives you a more active life, a bigger life. It will keep you young.鈥�

So far, experimental studies seem to support both Goldsmith鈥檚 experience and Hu鈥檚 research. One of the best-known is the Helsinki Businessman Study, a 50-year experiment involving more than 1,200 Finnish participants who filled out lifestyle and habit questionnaires between the 1960s and 2010s. In a , Timo Strandberg, MD, PhD, found a strong correlation between vacation time and longevity.

Participants in the intervention group鈥�600-plus men who were given a strict health-and-nutrition regimen during the early years of the study鈥攈ad a 37 percent higher chance of dying before their mid-70s, if they took fewer than three weeks of vacation per year. Those who took more than three weeks of vacation per year lived longer. Why?

鈥淭hese men who had less vacation were more psychologically vulnerable to stress,鈥� Strandberg said in a video call with 国产吃瓜黑料. That stress included participants鈥� family and work obligations, as well as the added pressure to stick to a structured health-and-fitness regime. Taking more vacation seemed to benefit participants in the intervention group, likely by keeping their stress in check, Strandberg says.

Surprisingly, the amount of vacation time participants took seemed to have no correlation to longevity in the control group鈥攖hose who weren鈥檛 given a health and fitness routine to stick to. The upshot? Giving yourself extra rules and routines can be stressful, no matter the intention. And the more stress, obligations, and prescribed regimens you have in your life, the more critical vacations may be. (Fitness fanatics, we鈥檙e looking at you.)

The Case for More Frequent Vacations听

Stress of any kind can have cumulative negative effects.

鈥淥ne theory is that your acute stress鈥攚hich can be good and healthy and help you avoid danger and so on鈥攃an turn into chronic stress,鈥� Strandberg said. 鈥淭hen that will show up in biological terms and in different markers in the body.鈥� A vacation has the potential to act as a reset, chipping away at your total stress load and bringing it back down to healthy levels.

Strandberg adds that while the health benefits of a vacation include stress relief and lower cortisol levels, the effects are only temporary. As a result, he recommends taking several four- to five-day vacations throughout the year rather than a single three-week vacation. That way you鈥檙e continually keeping your stress in check rather than saving it all up for a single blow-out.

Kiki Keating, a travel curator and trip guide based in New Hampshire, is a firm believer in frequent travel. Keating, who identifies as 鈥渁 very young 62,鈥� just hiked 90 miles along the Portuguese coast and has a handful of other trips鈥攊ncluding an overseas tour she does every year with her 86-year-old mother鈥攐n the docket for the coming year. The travel keeps both active, and it gives them something to look forward to. That sense of purpose, she says, is key to both living long and facing setbacks with determination. She鈥檚 watched many people use an upcoming trip as a life ring to pull out of depression or weather an injury or illness.

Goldsmith is one. Her first pancreatic surgery was extremely dangerous, a six-hour operation that only 25 percent of patients survive. But she felt she would make it; she had places yet to see.

As she recovered, dreams of travel motivated her to keep moving. 鈥淎s soon as I got out of the hospital, the first thing I did was travel,鈥� she says. Likewise, when facing a knee-replacement surgery earlier this year, she booked trips to Ireland and Scottsdale to give her something to look forward to鈥攁nd motivate her to do everything she could to recover faster.

Travel Keeps Your Mind Sharp

But you don鈥檛 have to be in advanced years to benefit from frequent travel. Keating has also seen it impact how her adult children face challenges and deal with stress.

鈥淭ravel helps you to be more relaxed when you鈥檙e adapting to something new,鈥� Keating says. 鈥淲hen you go to a place with a new culture and a language you don鈥檛 speak, it can feel hard at first. Then, after a day or two you鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, I take this metro and follow this red line and go to the blue line, and I know how to say hello, and this is where I like to eat.鈥� You remind yourself you can learn new things and adapt, and that gives you confidence.鈥� Today, she says, her kids鈥攁ll of whom traveled with her when they were younger鈥攁re good at taking adversity in stride. That鈥檚 a tool they鈥檒l use for the rest of their lives to minimize stress, and it could pay big dividends in terms of wellness.

It鈥檚 not just about stress, either. A small 2018 study by Craig Anderson, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow, shows that experiencing awe can help . Other research, including a that followed more than 6,700 older adults, indicates that travel could also ameliorate cognitive decline. Mental stimulation鈥攊ncluding learning new languages and visiting museums鈥攈as been shown to help by up to 47 percent.

It wouldn鈥檛 be much of a stretch to say that challenging yourself to navigate a new place or learn new customs would have some of the same benefits.

鈥淭ravel is sort of like riding your mountain bike on a technical trail,鈥� says Stephanie Pearson, 54, a professional travel writer who鈥檚 been globetrotting for more than 30 years. 鈥淵ou have to be in a similar flow space to navigate foreign languages, customs, and travel logistics. So I really think it does something cognitively to your brain. It also helps you reset and focus and see the world in a different way.鈥�

Pearson adds that she鈥檚 felt a similar level of focus and challenge on trips near home as to far-flung places like Bhutan and New Zealand. As long as there鈥檚 an element of awe, discovery, and getting out of your comfort zone, she says, your mind and body stand to benefit.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to fling yourself across the world to have an awesome adventure. You can drive to a nearby park or city that you鈥檝e never visited and have a rewarding experience,鈥� Pearson says. 鈥淭he benefit lies in having that curiosity.鈥�

Corey Buhay is a freelance writer and editor based in Boulder, Colorado. She is a member of the U.S. Ice Climbing Team, which takes her to Korea, Switzerland, Czech, and Slovakia each winter. She dreams of one day being able to travel when the weather is actually warm. Her recent stories for 国产吃瓜黑料 range from mountaineering bromance, with 鈥�After 50 Years of Friendship, These Alpinists Just Bagged (Another) Unclimbed Peak,鈥� to trail-running records in 鈥�Forget Pumpkin Spice Lattes, It鈥檚 FKT Season,鈥� to loss in the mountains, with 鈥�Years After My Mentor Died in the Backcountry, I Retraced His Final Footsteps.鈥�

The post Can Travel Make You Live Longer? These Scientists Think So.听 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Before 2006, the San Bruno County Jail had an outside exercise yard bigger than a football field. That year, the city of San Francisco unveiled a new jail on the same 242 acres of land, this one without any secure outdoor space.听Now, exercise takes place in an indoor gym or in a cell鈥攚hich means that people incarcerated there may not see the sun at all. In 2019, a group of former inmates who spent up to eleven years awaiting a trial date in the jail sued the city and its law enforcement. The individuals in custody reported getting less than a minute of sunlight a day during their time at San Bruno. The lawsuit, which went to court in 2023, alleged that denying these people access to the outdoors amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

In an October ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim wrote that the city of San Francisco acted with 鈥渞eckless indifference鈥� to those people’s health and wellbeing by denying them time outside. Kim ruled that individuals who serve more than a year have a right to I鈥檝e never been to the San Bruno County jail, but I have been incarcerated, and I can imagine how cruel it must feel to be stuck inside all day, every day.

I served 22 and a half years in prison, three of those in the Los Angeles County Jail system, often going days without sunlight. I served eight months in administrative segregation, more commonly known as solitary confinement. I still remember what it felt like to be in 鈥渢he hole鈥�: flesh encased in metal, the stale air, the stiff muscles, pacing two steps in either direction to combat stir-craziness. With nothing to do, mere minutes warped into what felt like hours. Outdoor yard was the only relief available.

I would walk, shackled, for 400 feet to an area with outdoor cages. Once inside my cage, a correction officer removed the cuffs, and yard time began. An outdoor cage serving听as respite from an indoor cage might sound like madness, but it was a bigger space that provided an opportunity to talk with other people and provided听fresh air and sunshine. It helped me make it home alive.

Montrail Brackens spent 11 years in the San Bruno county jail without direct access to sunlight. While there, he developed abnormal blood pressure, blood in his stool, obesity, a vitamin D deficiency, painful headaches, and diabetes. Lack of access to direct sunlight can lead to these and myriad other health complications, testified during federal court proceedings. These include ulcerative colitis and bowel problems, nearsightedness, increased risk of certain kinds of cancer and diabetes, and inflammation in the body which can adversely affect the immune system and increase the risk of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

The San Bruno County Jail’s argument in court centered on the fact that it does not have a secure , but the court responded that state regulations require the jail to have one. Therefore, the fault lies with the decision not to include an outdoor exercise area with their latest renovation of the jail. 鈥淒efendants created a situation in which they cannot securely allow inmates to go outside, and they cannot hide behind that reason when the denial creates harm,鈥� Magistrate Kim wrote.

It is a small win. 鈥淐ompared to nothing every day鈥�15 minutes is great,鈥� said Yolanda Huang, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, according to . But I question whether it is enough. In practice, the outside time will feel like it鈥檚 ending as soon as it begins.

Furthermore, based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, I wonder whether Magistrate Kim鈥檚 ruling will stand. In November, the court dismissed a case brought by a man named Michael Johnson, who had been kept in solitary confinement without outdoor access for three years, leaving his cell just once a week for a short shower. He asserted that this was cruel and unusual punishment, and tried to get his situation in front of the Supreme Court after losing a Seventh Circuit trial. In declining to review the case, the court let the existing ruling stand.

In a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayer and Elena Kagan, ,听鈥淒uring that time, Johnson spent nearly every hour of his existence in a windowless, perpetually lit cell about the size of a parking space. His cell was poorly ventilated, resulting in unbearable heat and noxious odors. The space was also unsanitary, often caked with human waste.” With no space to exercise or breathe fresh air, his mental health and physical health suffered, and he eventually became suicidal. He would smear feces all over his body, hoping to provoke the guards to kill him, according to Justice Brown. Johnson, who filed the suit on his own and was denied a lawyer, was faulted for not building a proper record for the higher court to review.

Reading about this case brings tears to my eyes. Often, the choice to side with the oppressor rather than the blatantly oppressed is based on the flawed theory that prison officials must be allowed to run their jails however they see fit to keep the public safe. The Supreme Court favored prison officials over justice, allowing obvious injustices to continue.

That false notion turns a blind eye to the fact that the people wearing the prison uniforms are not just 鈥渋nmates.鈥� They are human beings, endowed with a sacred dignity. No human should live in a cage in the first place. At the very least, they deserve an hour outside a day.听 When a prison system treats people like animals, it breeds animals, and we are all worse off for it.

Crime is a symptom of societal ills. The judicial system punishes the symptom and ignores its root cause. I believe we must fight for humane conditions in prisons, but battles like this distract from the true goal: we must fix the systems that create crime in the first place. If we address the root causes, we won’t need prisons at all.

The post 22 Years in Prison Taught Me That Outdoor Access Is a Human Right appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Since 2020, Yassine Diboun has made it a point each year to black out one square on his calendar with a Sharpie.

It’s a gesture to signify that on this day, typically set around the winter solstice, this 45-year-old ultrarunner and coach from Portland, Oregon, won鈥檛 run during the day, as he does most every other day of the year. Instead, he鈥檒l watch a movie with his daughter, Farah, or cook a meal with his wife, Erica, eagerly waiting for night to fall. Because that is when the action starts.

Diboun has become a fixture in Portland’s trail running scene, a and one of the most electric and positive forces in the U.S. ultrarunning scene today. He is also an athlete in active substance addiction recovery since 2004.

And here, at the confluence of endurance and recovery, is where Diboun enacts an annual tradition in Portland called . From sundown to sunup, Diboun runs through the evening, covering a route that connects city streets with trails in Forest Park while accompanied by dozens of other runners.

On December 9, Diboun will start his fourth-annual Move Through Darkness run. It may exceed 70 miles. It may not. That鈥檚 not really the point, though in some sense it is, for the more miles he runs, the more pledge-per-mile dollars he gains to funnel into future recovery programs, the very support structures that saved his own life two decades prior.

A Personal Mission

In 2009, Diboun and his wife moved to Portland, where he pursued a career in coaching. One of the first things Diboun did upon arrival was to connect with the recovery community, which led him to , the largest recovery support center in the United States.

Diboun鈥檚 personal history of substance addiction is circuitous and complicated鈥攄ocumented extensively in , , interviews, and others鈥攂ut what鈥檚 most important to know is that it led him down a path that wasn鈥檛 his own. Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and the 12-step program threw him a lifeline and he white-knuckled it to shore, reinforced by commitments to a plant-based diet and a healthy dose of body movement. (That鈥檚 code for running a ton of miles.)

Such discipline brought him to the highest levels of ultrarunning. He鈥檚 a four-time finisher of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (once in the top 10), a three-time finisher of the H.U.R.T. 100, in Hawaii, and he represented the U.S. at the IAU Trail World Championships in 2015. These accolades sit beside countless ultra wins and podiums.

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His success story prompted Brent Canode, executive director of the Alano Club or Portland, to reach out to Diboun in 2018 with a proposition. Diboun had, by then, teamed up with mountain athlete Willie McBride, to start in 2012. The business offers group functional fitness programs, youth programs, and personal guidance to get people outdoors and on trails.

Under Canode鈥檚 leadership, the Alano Club just launched (TRG)鈥攁 CrossFit-style facility offering courses for those in recovery, and Canode saw running as a natural extension of this program. He asked Diboun to spearhead a new running portion of the gym. For Canode, though models like the 12-step program were widely available and proven effective, he found the diversity of options for community lacking beyond that.

鈥淲hat we learned was that a lot of folks don鈥檛 attend 12-step programs,鈥� Canode says. 鈥淭hey haven鈥檛 found a connection anywhere else, and that鈥檚 a matter of life or death for a person in recovery.鈥�

Together, the two started regular informal runs called the Recovery Trail Running Series, which evolved into a more formalized wing of the gym: Run TRG. This program quickly took off, offering evening group runs, outings that would often end in post-run dinners and fun gatherings. The groups grew bigger each week.

鈥淲e cultivated this community for anybody in or seeking recovery from substance addiction, and it really picked up some good momentum,鈥� Diboun says.

When the pandemic shut everything down in March 2020, including The Recovery Gym and its new Run program, regulars instantly lost the group’s connection. Many relapsed and started using substances again. A few turned to suicide, including a prospective coaching client for Diboun who had met with him just one week prior.

鈥淚 know from personal experience that life can get too overwhelming at times and you get too stressed or overwhelmed and you can鈥檛 see anything,鈥� Diboun says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 see any hope, so you just live recklessly, helplessly. In extreme cases, life can feel not worth living anymore.鈥�

A Resilient Collaboration

While running one evening by headlamp, Diboun thought about the fragility of hope, the pandemic, the recent suicides, and the ever-increasing need for community. The combination of isolation and mental health decline, paired with an uptick in running popularity during the pandemic (Run TRG, once relaunched, tripled in size), created an opportunity for Diboun to leverage his visibility as both a decorated ultrarunner and someone vocal about his addiction history.

An idea was born: Move Through Darkness.

For one night, sundown to sunrise, he would organize a run to crisscross the city, connecting various trail systems and raising visibility of the mental health challenges entangled with isolation and addiction. It would take place around the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.

The initiative would serve three main purposes: First, it would be a personal pilgrimage for Diboun, a reminder of his own ongoing relationship with sobriety. Second, it would offer another way for those in recovery to come closer during difficult times. And third, the event would raise financial support for the which serves more than 10,000 people in recovery each year through mutual support groups like A.A., peer mentoring services, art programs, harm reduction services, and fitness-based initiatives like The Recovery Gym and Peak Recovery, Alano’s newest program, which provides free courses in split boarding, rock climbing, and mountaineering. Over the last eight years Alano has won four national awards for innovation in the behavioral health field.

Inaugural Success

December 2020 was the first-ever Move Through Darkness event. About 30 runners participated throughout the night, joining Diboun in various sections of his sinuous route. Given that the invitation was to run upwards of 100K through the night in some of the worst weather of the year, the turnout was impressive. The group eventually made their way to Portland鈥檚 Duniway Track to complete a few hours of loops, encouraged onward by music.

One of those runners that first year was Mike Grant, 47, from Portland. Grant has been in long-term recovery with substance addiction and understands the initial hurdles of getting out there. During the event, Grant completed his first ultra-distance run by covering 50 miles. He hasn鈥檛 missed a Move Through Darkness run since.

This year, he鈥檒l be joining again, in large because of Diboun.

鈥淵ou hang out with Yassine for any length of time, and the next thing you know you’re running further than you ever have before,鈥� Grant says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 one of those people you just feel better when you’re around.鈥�

The Move Through Darkness route is roughly the same every year, but it always starts and ends at the Alano Club, located in Portland鈥檚 Northwest neighborhood. This first year, his daughter, Farah, ran with him from Duniway to the Alano Club, which was a particularly special moment to share.

The fundraising component is a pledge-per-mile model, where you can pay a certain dollar amount for every mile Diboun will cover. All funds go to support the Alano Club, specifically the Recovery Toolkit Series. Other recovery-focused gyms are increasingly available nationwide, but The Recovery Gym is the only CrossFit affiliate in the U.S. designed from the ground up, exclusively for individuals in recovery.

Each week, TRG offers six to eight classes free of charge to anyone in recovery. Every coach holds credentials in both CrossFit instruction and peer mentoring for substance use and mental health disorders. An original inspiration for Run TRG was the , a nonprofit established in 2015 to provide running community reinforcement for those affected by addiction and substance addiction.

The Mental Health Crisis

, 29 percent of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives鈥攖he highest rate since such data was measured. Suicides in the U.S. reached all-time highs in 2022, 鈥攁bout 135 people per day lost to self-inflicted death. In 2022, 20.4 million people in the U.S. were diagnosed with substance abuse disorder (SUD).

Oregon, specifically, is rated number one in the country for illicit drug use. In 2020, Oregon had the , while ranking last in treatment options.

Canode says that, after 40 years of researching addiction and effective recovery, the single most important aspect of recovery success is authentic connection to a like-minded community. That鈥檚 why both Canode and Diboun are building an all-hands-on-deck approach to recovery through running, to strengthen connections through movement.

鈥淚n recovery, we know how to grind,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e are naturally great endurance athletes. We also know how to consistently move through darkness, which is especially true in the beginning of someone’s recovery journey. It鈥檚 often not rainbows and unicorns and lots of positivity. It’s a grind. It’s grueling.鈥�

Annalou Vincent, 42, a senior production manager at Nike, is one of the many people who have reached out to Diboun from all over the Portland community.

鈥淔inding Yassine and Run TRG saved my life,鈥� she says. After starting a running practice in her thirties, she started feeling better and decided to question decisions like drinking alcohol. She eventually dropped booze and became a regular at the Run TRG. Vincent has worked closely with Yassine to develop and promote Run TRG, and has joined Diboun for various legs of Move Through Darkness over the years.

鈥淚 can’t imagine my life or my sobriety without running and this program, says Vincent. “Over the years I’ve seen it change the lives of many others. Move Through Darkness is an extension of that. This program and others like it are saving lives.鈥�

Gratitude Is a Verb

Willie McBride, Diboun鈥檚 business partner, supports Move Through Darkness each year and has witnessed its evolution and impact.

鈥淚 think people really connect with this project because they understand those dark parts of life, and how challenging they can be. Darkness comes in all different forms,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut also the very tangible act of running all night, literally putting their body out there鈥攃oming together as a group sheds light right into that darkness.鈥�

Diboun is reminded daily of his life鈥檚 work, to remain sober and offer his endurance as a gift to others, even when it gets difficult.

鈥淚鈥檓 coming up on 20 years sober, but I’m not cured of this,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is something I need to keep doing and stay on the frontlines.鈥�

With record rainfall aiming for Oregon in December, this Saturday night calls for a 58 percent chance of rain showers, with the last light at 5 P.M. and the first light around 7 A.M. That鈥檚 potentially 14 soggy hours of night running. But this forecast doesn鈥檛 cause Diboun any concern. He鈥檚 used to it, used to running for hours in the dark, used to being drenched. He鈥檚 faced that long tunnel and knows that there鈥檚 always light at the end, as long as you keep trudging forward, and best when together.

鈥淵ou keep passing it on,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou keep giving it away, in order to keep it. Gratitude is a verb.鈥�

The post Running Through the Night to Confront the Darkness of Substance Addiction appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

In my book, there are two types of people: those who do turkey trots, and those who vehemently do not.听

Turkey trots, annual races (generally 5K to 10K) that most commonly take place in the United States on Thanksgiving morning, have been a well-kept tradition since 1896. The very first trot was held in Buffalo, New York, and only six runners participated in the five miles along downtown Buffalo鈥檚 dirt roads. Since then, the tradition has skyrocketed in popularity. from 2022 reported that 756,894 people ran or walked in 730 turkey trots across the country.听

Trotting a Fine Line with Food Anxiety

Much like any race, there are plenty of good reasons why people run on Thanksgiving morning. But one not-so-good reason? Running a turkey trot because you feel like you need to 鈥渏ustify鈥� the Thanksgiving feast you鈥檒l eat later. A of 2,000 Americans found that 88 percent feel anxious around the holidays, with 85 percent reporting that they overeat to the point of being uncomfortable.听

Thus, the idea of 鈥減unishing鈥� yourself with a run before you enjoy pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, and mom鈥檚 famous jello pudding can seem like a good way to balance the scales. However, not only is this not effective nutritionally-speaking, but it鈥檚 damaging to your mental and emotional health. Mental endurance and life coach says that, though this way of coping with Thanksgiving is harmful, she鈥檚 not surprised people do so.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 all centered around these narratives about diet culture in our marketing,鈥� she says. 鈥淗alf of the time the holidays are shown to us as a time to indulge and cook all these delicious things, and the other half is marketed to us as a time to watch our weight and be thinking about races coming up in 2024.鈥�

The Problem with 鈥淓arning鈥� Your Meal

Just as it has been that using food as a reward in a child鈥檚 adolescence often leads to overeating, unhealthy relationships to food, and lost hunger cues, adults can also feel the negative implications of “earning” your food with exercise.听

鈥淔ood is a basic human need, not a reward,鈥� says professor of sport and exercise psychology, . 鈥淚n general, people feel better about their bodies and eating when they consider food to be necessary fuel rather than a reward.鈥澨�

Even avid runners may use the turkey trot as an excuse to eat more than usual鈥攖hat鈥檚 the 鈥渞eward.鈥� You might not even sign up with the intention of using it to burn calories before your feast, but subconsciously, you might already feel guilty about what鈥檚 to come and are trying to get ahead of it by overcorrecting.听

鈥淚f exercise is viewed as a means to an end or as something one must do to earn food, feelings of guilt, pressure, or even punishment begin to be associated with exercise,鈥� says Arthur-Cameselle.听

If runners have this mindset, they should really question if this is the relationship they want to have with food and exercise.听

鈥淲hen you are willing to question the narratives fed to you and decide whether or not they serve you and your goals, it gives you ownership of the mental space you want to be in around the holidays,鈥� Foerster says.

So if you feel like you might be running for the wrong reasons, is it better to avoid a turkey trot altogether? Not necessarily.听

Know Your Why

鈥淚t depends on the person, but most of the time, it鈥檚 worth the effort to manage your perspective and mindset so you鈥檙e not missing out on an experience,鈥� Foerster says. 鈥淚f you avoid it this year, you鈥檙e not really coming up against the problem of your mindset鈥攜ou鈥檙e just avoiding it.鈥�

She suggests coming up with better reasons to run the turkey trot, like having it be a tradition to do with your family members or using it as time for yourself before all the holiday hecticness.听

鈥淢y overall suggestion is to run the turkey trot if you enjoy running, if you like the social aspect of the race, or if you notice positive mental benefits like improved mood after you鈥檙e done,鈥� Arthur-Cameselle says. 鈥淚f you don’t enjoy any of those aspects or gain that type of experience from running, find a different form or exercise or sport that makes you feel how you want to feel. If exercise feels like play, you are more likely to stick with it.鈥澨�

Though changing your mindset around the turkey trot is healthy, it might not help your unhealthy relationship with Thanksgiving dinner. For that, Foerster recommends mindfulness.听

鈥淎ll that stress, guilt, and shame you might feel around a holiday meal actually have a more negative effect than the food would,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o you might as well eat the food and actually enjoy it and be present, and then move on. Sort of like failing a workout. You experience it that day, and you鈥檙e not going to carry it with you moving forward. Your goals aren鈥檛 ruined because of it.鈥�

You heard her, folks. Run Thanksgiving morning because you’re hot for the trot, not because you feel bad about eating a lot.

The post You Don鈥檛 Need to Earn Your Thanksgiving Feast with Exercise appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

This article was originally published on .

If you鈥檙e finding yourself feeling mentally foggy and unable to concentrate, you could be suffering from brain fog.

Brain fog brings on听听memory issues, a lack of mental clarity and difficulty focusing. You might feel like you鈥檙e literally in a fog; you can also feel sluggish and exhausted. It鈥檚 kind of like having brain fatigue, making it difficult to get through the day even if you鈥檙e feeling otherwise healthy.

There are a number of potential causes for brain fog 鈥� and ways you can find relief.

What Causes Brain Fog?

Brain fog typically doesn鈥檛 appear as a standalone health concern. It鈥檚 a symptom that鈥檚 linked to a few different underlying causes.

A number of听听can result in brain fog. Hormonal changes, like those that happen during pregnancy or menopause, can cause it. Certain medications, such as blood pressure medications or chemotherapy drugs, can bring it on. A number of medical conditions are also known to cause brain fog. It鈥檚 particularly common in conditions that are tied to inflammation and blood glucose levels, like hypothyroidism, autoimmune diseases and diabetes.

听can also cause brain fog. Even if you believe you鈥檝e overcome a particular virus or viral illness, the effects can linger within your body, causing aftereffects as your immune system still works to clear out any suspected viral proteins.

Brain fog can even be brought on by chronic stress and a lack of sleep. Mental fatigue is a side effect of stress, and as your brain becomes exhausted, the symptoms of brain fog can start to appear.

Perhaps the most unexpected underlying cause is your diet. If you aren鈥檛 getting enough听, you may begin to experience the symptoms of brain fog. Vitamin B12 helps ensure healthy blood and nerve function, so unusually low levels of this particular vitamin can make your thinking feel fuzzy and cause fatigue.

How Food Can Help Combat Brain Fog and its Symptoms

Whether your brain fog is brought on by a vitamin deficiency or another health concern, there are听 you can eat that may alleviate its effect on your daily life. Try adding these foods into your diet, and you may find some relief.

Eat Brain-Friendly Foods

Certain foods are rich in nutrients that feed your brain 鈥� or help your brain operate smoothly.

Omega-3 fatty acids, for example, are fantastic for both your brain and your nervous system. Two particular omega-3s, EPA and DHA, 听to play a role in maintaining brain health throughout your life. They鈥檙e found in brain cell membranes, and they work to keep those cells healthy and communicating properly. Without enough omega-3s in your diet, you could experience听 and a smaller brain size overall.

Flavonoids are another important brain nutrient. These plant-derived compounds听, reducing damage-causing free radicals and calming inflammation. Flavonoids can also have a protective effect on your brain, potentially blocking plaque buildup and increasing blood flow.

Foods with these nutrients can enhance your overall brain health, which may have a positive effect on brain fog symptoms. Try these foods, which are rich in flavonoids or omega-3s:

• Dark chocolate
• Fatty fish
• Shellfish
• Chia seedes
• Walnuts
• Citrus fruits
• Berries
• Leafy greens

Incorporate Energy Boosting Foods into Every Meal

Fatigue often accompanies brain fog, leaving you feeling both sluggish and sleepy. Instead of relying solely on caffeine to keep your energy levels up throughout the day, try eating foods that can combat these symptoms.

Dark leafy greens, for example, offer more than flavonoids. They can also combat fatigue thanks to their high levels of vitamin D, vitamin C, iron and nitrates.听 that even a single serving of leafy green veggies daily can slow the rate of cognitive decline. All of the vitamins and minerals in these powerful plants can also combat brain fog culprits like iron and vitamin deficiencies. All kinds of dark leafy greens, like spinach, collard greens, kale and chard, are great choices.

Avocados are another energy-boosting food. Packed with听, avocados can deliver lasting energy that helps you feel more awake all day long. Other nutrients, like magnesium and potassium, encourage blood flow to keep your brain running optimally. In addition to your energy levels, avocados also contain听. This is a carotenoid that鈥檚 present throughout brain tissue, and it helps overall brain function and can play a role in clear thinking.

Try Foods Rich in Choline

Choline may not be a nutrient you look out for regularly, but it鈥檚 fantastic for brain fog. All of choline鈥檚 benefits are centered within the brain 鈥� it helps key biochemical chain reactions, plays a role in basic brain functions and affects brain cells directly.

According to听, choline helps the brain create acetylcholine, a protein that plays a role in memory and overall cognitive ability. Eating a lot of choline visibly affects your brain鈥檚 health too; MRI scans show that choline-rich diets are connected to healthier brain tissue. Making sure you get enough choline could help counteract the effects of brain fog overall.

It鈥檚 a good idea to aim for between 425 and 550 milligrams of choline per day. Try adding choline-rich foods like the following into your diet:

• Eggs
• Milk
• Fish, specifically salmon, cod, or tilapia
• Peanuts
• Cauliflower
• Chicken

Other Lifestyle Changes

In addition to adjusting your diet, it鈥檚 also important to recognize that other lifestyle changes can also help you deal with brain fog. Overall, sticking to healthy habits can ensure you鈥檙e doing everything you can to keep your brain in its best possible shape.

Exercise is also beneficial for brain health. Regular exercise can lead to all kinds of听, including a decrease in atrophy and increases in blood vessels and synapses. Even if you aren鈥檛 feeling well enough to tackle an aerobic workout, low-intensity mind-body exercises like resistance training or yoga are great ways to get moving.

It鈥檚 also important to make sure you鈥檙e getting enough sleep. Cutting your rest short each night can make brain fog worse, adding to the fatigue, fuzziness and general lack of concentration.

The post Banish Brain Fog: Fine-Tune Your Diet to Find Relief appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.