In many parts of Asia, black sesame is an essential dessert flavor. The nutty, mildly bittersweet seed appears in ice-cream parlors and doughnut shops alongside matcha and ube – offerings as standard as chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry are stateside, says Sophie Hung, a California-based registered dietitian nutritionist who grew up in Hong Kong.

Now, black sesame’s popularity is growing in the US, with Yelp naming it a top food trend for 2026 based on user data (searches for “black sesame matcha” are up almost 150% since 2023). Yet, beyond its appealing flavor and striking color, what exactly are you getting nutritionally when you add black sesame to your diet?

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What is the nutritional profile of black sesame?

“I love sesame seeds because they pack a nice nutritional punch without a lot of volume,” says New York-based registered dietitian nutritionist Robin Foroutan.

Black sesame is “really high in specific minerals, like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium”, says Foroutan. “These are nutrients important for bone health specifically, but also for cardiovascular health and balanced blood pressure.”

A 2025 review analyzing data from 521 adults found that eating a tablespoon, or about 10 grams, of sesame products a day for eight weeks led to modest improvements in markers of heart and metabolic health, such as blood sugar and cholesterol levels, though the authors caution that these observed effects may not reliably “reflect true clinical benefits”, so, take them with a grain of salt.

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A serving of sesame is roughly one tablespoon of whole seeds, with dietitians recommending between one and three servings per day. The particular nutritional profiles of sesame products differ depending on whether you’re consuming whole seeds or denser sesame products such as ground sesame or blended tahini paste, which comes in black or white varieties. For instance, a tablespoon of tahini is about 90 calories, while a less dense spoonful of whole sesame seeds is about 60 calories. Black, brown, and white varieties of sesame have similar macronutritional profiles – low in protein and carbohydrates, high in unsaturated fat – though black sesame contains more minerals, antioxidants, and slightly more fiber than paler counterparts. If you’re eating sesame for its mineral content, be sure you’re buying the seeds with the calcium-rich hull on, rather than just the translucent inner kernel often seen atop burger buns.

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You don’t have to cut the morning caffeine drip to protect your brain against dementia in the future.

New research shows that daily coffee or tea –– and yes, the caffeinated kind –– is associated with better cognitive health in the long term.

Those who enjoyed two to three cups of coffee or one to two cups of tea a day saw the biggest impact, according to recent study published in JAMA.

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Coffee drinkers in midlife had about an 18% lower chance of developing dementia later on, while tea drinkers had a 14% lower risk, said senior author of the study Dr. Daniel Wang, assistant professor in the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

Wang and the team did not observe the same benefit in decaffeinated options amid the data of the more than 130,000 people enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

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Gut health has become one of social media’s favourite buzzwords.

From drinking chia seed water first thing in the morning to adding sea moss gel to smoothies and sipping bone broth to “heal” your gut, these products are credited with everything from better moods to more energy.

But behind the viral foods, scientists say the reality is more complicated - especially as it’s a growing field with new evidence emerging almost every day.

While the gut microbiome does play a crucial role in our wellbeing, evidence for many of these fixes is thin and for most healthy people, obsessing over gut “healing” may be unnecessary.

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What is the gut microbiome?

BBC science broadcaster Caroline Steel describes the gut as the entire digestive tract, from mouth to anus.

Inside it lives the gut microbiome - trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi that play a crucial role in how the body functions and “impacts your mental and physical health”.

Steel says our “gut microbiome is more unique than our fingerprint” and a healthy microbiome is linked to better energy extraction from food, blood sugar regulation and immune defence.

Research also suggests associations between gut health and mental wellbeing, including lower anxiety and improved mood.

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Here’s a new trend that sounds unwise: buying unregulated substances from dealers in foreign countries and injecting them into your body.

And yet, grey-market injectable peptides – a category of substances with obscure, alphanumeric names like BPC-157, GHK-Cu, or TB-500 – have developed a devoted following among biohackers and health optimizers.

Across platforms like Discord and Telegram, users are claiming these peptides help with everything from injury recovery, athletic performance, weight loss, mental function, better sleep and younger-looking skin.

Among the risk-tolerant tech workers of the Bay Area, peptides have become akin to a status symbol. The founders of the startup Superpower store vials of peptides in their office fridge for convenient, lunchtime backside injections, and at least one San Francisco “peptide rave” has seen partygoers entertained by a lab-coated man demonstrating how to inject liquid peptides.

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What are injectable peptides, exactly?

Peptides are short chains of amino acids – smaller versions of proteins – that play a role in regulating hormones, releasing neurotransmitters and repairing tissue, explains Adam Taylor, director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre at Lancaster University. More than 100 Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs are peptide-based, including insulin and newer GLP-1 medications like Ozempic.

Grey-market injectable peptides, on the other hand, are unapproved by the FDA. The unregulated, experimental compounds lack reliable safety data and quality control. Sometimes, these substances are essentially bootleg versions of approved drugs, like semaglutide, but are procured for a fraction of their market price from dealers online.

While some injectable peptides are entirely foreign to the human body, others, like BPC-157 and TB-500, are synthetic versions of proteins that naturally occur in us, where they play a role in tissue and cellular repair.

“Those two are popular because when you combine them, they’ve been given the exciting name ‘Wolverine stack’, based on the supposed similarities to the film character’s regenerative properties,” says Taylor.

But just because a protein has a natural role in the body doesn’t mean that a lab-made version will confer extra benefits. “Those two compounds alone have never been shown to have any benefit to justify them being used therapeutically in humans,” says Taylor.

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A new brain imaging study suggests that people who report symptoms of addiction to short-form video platforms—such as TikTok or Instagram Reels—may be less sensitive to financial losses and make faster, more impulsive decisions. The findings, published in NeuroImage, show that this lower sensitivity to losses is associated with distinct brain activation patterns during decision-making, particularly in regions involved in evaluating rewards and guiding behavior.

Behaviors associated with addiction—such as substance use and gambling—are linked to a reduced ability to weigh potential costs and benefits. Individuals with these behaviors often prioritize short-term rewards over long-term consequences. While much attention has been paid to these traditional forms of addiction, the rise of short-form video platforms has introduced a new category of potentially harmful digital habits. These apps provide a continuous stream of highly tailored content that can trigger dopamine release and encourage repeated use.

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From running up stairs, to rigorous gardening: these everyday activities could boost your health and help you live longer.

Everyone knows that the key to a healthy long life is to exercise and eat well. But what if you simply don’t have the time to slog it out at the gym, or chalk up 10,000 steps a day? The good news is that doing everyday activities with more rigour and energy can achieve huge benefits. Think running up the stairs, power walking around the house, or playing with your children or pets.

If you’ve followed exercise science in the last three years, you might have encountered a new term: vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity or VILPA. Also described through the various monikers of “exercise snacking,” “snacktivity,” or “activity microbursts,” it’s the latest solution to a long-term problem – how best to coax the most reluctant of exercisers to sit less and move more?

In the past decade, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) – which involves pushing the body to its limits through brief explosive bursts of running, cycling and bodyweight exercises like squats or jumping jacks – has become a popular workout for more time-pressed gym goers. It has also been shown to improve blood sugar control, cholesterol, blood pressure and body fat.

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It’s easy to forget that true wellbeing doesn’t just play out on your yoga mat or on your plate, but also in your relationships. In the same way that physical and mental fitness builds a healthy body, social fitness builds a healthy spirit—and is just as important to work on, nurture, and maintain. At least, that’s what Harvard-trained sociologist Kasley Killam says. She’s even devised a simple method for cultivating better social health she calls the 5-3-1 rule.

What is the 5-3-1 rule?

Humans are social creatures by nature, thriving on their connections to others. In Killam’s book on social health, The Art and Science of Connection: Why Social Health Is the Missing Key to Living (2024), she says our human network is a living organ: It breathes, stretches, and weakens if we stop nourishing it. And, like everything that keeps us upright, it deserves daily attention.

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Taking a shower is already one of the humblest but most fulfilling self-care acts. The warm water cascading down your back, the scent of your favorite shampoo or body wash doing its work, the way your mind settles. Who knew that flipping the light switch to take a shower in the dark could level up the experience? In recent months, the “dark showering” trend has surged across social media as more people give it a go and realize it’s actually kind of powerful.

What Is Dark Showering?

Dark showering is exactly what it sounds like: Taking a shower while the lights are turned off so the lighting is dim rather than bright. You’re still cleaning per usual, but the purpose goes far beyond hygiene.

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Scientists have hailed the benefits of exercising early in life to lower the risk of your brain degenerating later. But new research suggests that even once you’re 45 or older, it’s not too late to try.

Having the highest levels of physical activity in midlife and late life was associated with a 41% and 45% lower risk of dementia, respectively, found the study that published November 19 in the journal JAMA Network Open. Midlife was defined as ages 45 to 64, while late life was ages 65 to 88.

“This study shifts the conversation from ‘exercise is good for the brain’ to ‘there may be key windows when exercise matters most for brain health,’” said Dr. Sanjula Singh, an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School and principal investigator at the Brain Care Labs at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She wasn’t involved in the study.

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We’ve all been there—stuck in front of a computer, staring at the screen, waiting for a genius idea to strike. But nothing comes, no matter how hard you focus. Frustrating, right?

Turns out, Steve Jobs had a simple solution to this problem: he got up and went for a walk.

Jobs was famous for his walking meetings. In fact, his biographer, Walter Isaacson, mentioned that walking was his preferred way to have deep conversations and think through tough challenges. And he wasn’t alone—many of the most creative minds in history, from Charles Darwin to Mark Zuckerberg, swore by the power of walking to spark their best ideas.

So why is walking such a mental game-changer?

Recent neuroscience backs up what Jobs intuitively knew: walking helps your brain function better. When you’re stuck on a problem and nothing’s clicking, sitting there longer won’t necessarily lead to a breakthrough. Instead, experts like neuroscientist Mithu Storoni recommend what’s known as the “10-minute rule.” If you’ve been grinding on a tough problem for more than 10 minutes without a solution, it’s time to get up, move, and go for a walk.

Why does this work?

Unlike your muscles, which benefit from repetition and more effort, your brain thrives on breaks and movement. When you walk, your mind enters a state where it’s alert but also free to wander. You’re not hyper-focused on one thing, so your brain can bounce around and make new connections—exactly what you need when you’re brainstorming or solving a tricky issue.

Walking forces your attention to shift in subtle ways, whether it’s watching where you’re going or navigating your surroundings. This helps keep your brain active without getting stuck on the same thought pattern. Essentially, it gives your brain the room it needs to explore different solutions without the pressure of sitting still and “forcing” creativity.

And the best part? It’s not just about productivity at work—this approach can apply to anything in life. Feeling stressed or overwhelmed? Stuck in a creative rut? Go for a walk.

So, the next time you’re sitting at your desk, struggling to crack a problem, take a cue from Steve Jobs and give the 10-minute rule a try. Step outside, clear your mind, and let your brain work in the background. You might be surprised by how much more you can achieve with just a simple walk.

(Adapted from this article)

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Further Reading:

There are an estimated 7.6 million fewer obese adults today compared with three years ago, new research shows, and injectable weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy may be a contributing factor.

The U.S. adult obesity rate, calculated as having a BMI of 30 or higher, has gradually declined to 37% in 2025, dropping from a record high of 39.9% in 2022, according to a survey by the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index released Tuesday, Oct. 28.

At the same time, usage of GLP-1 drugs among both men and women more than doubled in the past year, the index found, with 12.4% of respondants saying they used the drugs compared with 5.8% in February 2024, when Gallup first measured it. The drugs, which were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for weight loss in 2021, have boomed as an effective way to shed weight, which work to prolong feelings of fullness to reduce food intake.

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Some families approach the college process like investors: calculating ROI, scrutinizing career services, and tracking graduate earnings. Others, mindful that today’s applicants were in middle school during COVID and shaped by a period of heightened attention to mental health, are prioritizing access to health and wellness support. They seek colleges that offer continuity and care, wanting reassurance that the support systems sustaining their students in high school won’t suddenly disappear.

Colleges are responding. In an amenities arms race, they are adding wellness centers, meditation rooms, fitness complexes, and dining options designed to care for the whole student. Leaders in wellness have already reshaped luxury, and now families expect the same ethos in education. As the wellness industry, now valued at over $6 trillion, goes mainstream, its values of balance, clarity, and restoration are now influencing how families construct the college list and reframe success as sustainable achievement.

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One of the latest fitness fads trending on social media is “Japanese walking,” a 30-minute exercise regimen in which you alternate walking at a normal pace with bursts of speed. It’s easy to see the appeal.

Japanese walking is a relatively short, accessible workout that doesn’t require a gym membership or special equipment. All you have to do is walk out the door.

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If some days it’s easier to reach your step goals than others, you may still be protecting yourself against cardiovascular disease and early death, according to a new study.

For women older than 60 in particular, the average daily steps across a week was more strongly associated with a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease and early death than the number of days in a week that step goals were reached, said lead study author Dr. Rikuta Hamaya, instructor in medicine at the Brigham Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

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