TUESDAY, Jan. 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Meditation might help a person’s gut health — but it takes a lot of meditation over a long time.Tibetan Buddhist monks appear to have gut microbes that differ substantially from others living near them, a new study reports.Those differences have previously been linked to a lower risk of anxiety, depression and heart disease, according to the study authors.The findings suggest that regular deep meditation practiced for a number of years appears to regulate the gut microbiome and improve health, the researchers said. The report was published online Jan. 16 in the journal General Psychiatry.Meditation is more frequently being used to help treat mental health problems like depression, anxiety, substance abuse, traumatic stress and eating...

TUESDAY, Jan. 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- When birth rates fall in the United States, experts try to figure out what’s happening.The fertility rate is at its lowest since the 1970s -- 1.71 per woman, according to a new study.But it's not that young people today don't want children, new research suggests. In fact, they want about as many as their parents had.Instead, young Americans may simply be having more difficulty achieving life goals in order to have kids, said study co-author Sarah Hayford, director of the Ohio State University Institute for Population Research."You see a lot of things of like, 'Oh, young people just aren't interested in having children' or 'young people have better things to do.' And we don't find that," Hayford said. "We find that young people are interested...

TUESDAY, Jan. 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- It's no secret: The standard American diet is at the root of the obesity epidemic and many of its associated diseases. But why is American food so unhealthy? It's not just that Americans eat too much, which they do, but it's also what they eat that's unhealthy: fat, sugar, salt and ultra-processed foods. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the average American diet consists of excess salt, saturated fat, refined grains, calories from solid fats and added sugars.Americans also eat fewer vegetables, fruits, whole grains, dairy products and oils than recommended. Nearly 42% of American adults are obese, statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.One reason may be that healthy foods are often more...

TUESDAY, Jan. 17, 2023 (American Heart Association News) -- Like many skiers, Dr. Ouida Brown can't narrow her love of the sport down to just one element."I love the scenery," said the orthopedic surgeon from Chicago. "I love the people." She loves being the first to make tracks in fresh powder in the morning. She loves the physical and mental challenge of trying to improve her time on a racecourse.But it's another type of challenge when Brown, who is Black, tries to convey her excitement. "No one else in my family skis," the Mississippi native said. And when she talks about the sport to other Black people, they sometimes look at her and say, "Black people don't ski!"It's true that Black skiers are a rarity. According to a 2021-22 survey by the National Ski Areas Association, only 1.5%...