In 2025, J. Zeng and a team from China reviewed 9 randomized trials with 514 adults battling depression. They compared high-intensity exercise (like intense running or weight lifting) to control groups, measuring depression with standard scales like the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD). Workouts lasted from weeks to months.

In 2025, Andrea Bazzani and Ugo Faraguna from Italian universities wrote an editorial reviewing how eating and sleeping are linked. They looked at past studies showing poor sleep changes what we crave, like more sweets and high-calorie foods, due to hormone shifts like less leptin (fullness signal) and more ghrelin (hunger signal). This can lead to overeating and weight gain.

In 2020, a scoping review by K. Ahern and team found that low protein intake and unstable blood sugar from high-carb diets worsened anxiety by 20-30%, as they disrupt serotonin production and spike stress hormones like cortisol. A 2016 study by K. M. Whitaker showed skipping breakfast raised cortisol levels in women by 15-25%, increasing morning stress and anxiety.

In 2025, Amy Amla Kartar and colleagues from the Colasanti Lab at Brighton and Sussex Medical School in the UK studied how high-ventilation breathwork (HVB) with music affects the brain and emotions. They tested 42 participants during 20-30 minute sessions of cyclic breathing, followed by questionnaires on altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and scans for blood flow changes.

In 2023, Daniel P. Windred and a team studied sleep patterns in thousands of adults across multiple cohorts, finding that sleeping in on weekends, called social jetlag, disrupts your body’s internal clock. Each hour of jetlag raises heart disease risk by 11% and worsens mood, obesity, and unhealthy habits like smoking or poor diet. A 2019 study by C.M. Depner showed that catching up on sleep after five short nights still caused 10-15% worse insulin sensitivity and higher calorie intake, leading to weight gain risks.

In 2025, Yuko Fujita and Tomohiro Takeshima from Nagasaki University surveyed 106 adolescents and young adults (aged 12-24) in Japan. They used a lifestyle questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to check mental health, and a gummy jelly test to measure swallowing threshold (how fast someone eats).

In 2022, a team reviewed six studies with 295 adults to see how exercise helps insomnia. They found that regular workouts, like walking or yoga, improved sleep quality and cut insomnia severity by 20-30%, making it easier to fall and stay asleep.

In 2023, Ben Singh and a team reviewed 97 meta-analyses covering 1,039 trials with 128,119 adults to compare exercise against psychotherapy or medications for mental health issues like depression and anxiety. They looked at various workouts—brisk walking, weights, yoga—measuring effects on mood, stress, and brain chemicals.

In 2025, Melody Ding and a team from The University of Sydney reviewed 35 studies with over 16,000 adults from 2014-2025. They analyzed how daily step counts affect eight health outcomes, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer, depression, falls, physical function, and overall death risk, using data from PubMed and EBSCO CINAHL.

In 2021, Yumeng Xie and a team from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University reviewed many studies on how exercise helps people with depression. They looked at different kinds of workouts like running, swimming, or yoga, and how they change brain chemicals, reduce swelling, and improve mood. Exercise works by boosting happy brain signals like serotonin and dopamine, growing new brain cells, and cutting down harmful stress.

In 2025, T. Iwabe and team studied 17 healthy adults using slow-paced breathing (4-second inhale, 6-second exhale) versus normal breathing. They measured anxiety, brain activity, and heart rate variability before and after stressful images, using the STAI-S scale and EEG.

In various studies from 2013 to 2023, researchers like those from the University of Manchester and NBER analyzed data from thousands of retirees in cohort and longitudinal setups. They tracked health changes post-retirement, focusing on cognitive, physical, and mental aspects, adjusting for age, job type, and voluntary status.

Two 2025 studies in Frontiers in Nutrition show that probiotics do much more than just aid digestion—they can improve mental clarity, reduce inflammation, and support healthy weight and immune function for nearly everyone.

A 2025 review in Nutrients by Zhang dives into the crucial roles selenium plays in our bodies. As a key part of selenoproteins, this micronutrient helps balance redox reactions, regulate cell growth, support the immune system, and guard against DNA damage, chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and neurodegeneration.

Creatine’s known benefits for muscle energy appear to extend to the brain—boosting cognitive function via enhanced cellular energy supply. The memory improvements were consistent across sexes and independent of body composition changes, suggesting creatine supports brain performance directly.

Magnesium is far more than a mineral—it’s a crucial brain-and-mood regulator. A 2025 comprehensive review in Nutrients by Varga et al. shows that low magnesium is linked to depression, migraine, Alzheimer’s, and cognitive decline.

Ashwagandha, a powerful herb used in traditional medicine, has been shown in a 2025 review to help reduce stress, fatigue, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. It also supports better sleep and sharper mental focus, boosting overall feelings of well-being—even for older adults aged 60–85.

A 2025 meta-analysis in Nutrients reviewed data from over 1.5 million individuals and found that consuming energy drinks was associated with a significantly increased risk of both suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts. The risk rose with frequency: those drinking 21–30 energy drinks per month had nearly triple the odds of attempting suicide compared to non-consumers.

A 2025 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that higher intakes of black tea, berries, citrus fruits, and apples were linked to a lower risk of frailty, physical decline, and poor mental health in older adults. Women with the highest flavonoid intake had up to a 15% lower risk of frailty.