Contrary to trends in wellness, a full-body MRI doesn't catch cancer early. A mass visible on an MRI already contains billions of cells and may have spread. Furthermore, it often leads to a rabbit hole of invasive tests for benign abnormalities, causing unnecessary harm.

Applying cold, like cucumbers, constricts blood vessels to reduce swelling. However, prolonged application beyond 15 minutes can trigger a paradoxical effect, causing blood vessels to dilate and leading to increased inflammation, worsening the initial problem.

Humans have two attention types: fatigable 'directed attention' for focus and effortless 'involuntary attention.' Nature's 'softly fascinating' stimuli (like waves) engage involuntary attention, allowing our directed attention to recover. This is unlike chaotic urban environments that overwhelm all attentional resources.

A landmark study by Roger Ulrich found that post-surgery patients in rooms with a view of trees recovered about a day faster and required less pain medication than patients whose rooms faced a brick wall. This provides strong evidence that even a passive view of nature can have significant, measurable effects on physical healing.

Many people jump into complex breathwork classes while ignoring their foundational breathing, which is often dysfunctional (e.g., mouth breathing). Mastering normal, efficient nasal breathing provides more significant and sustainable health benefits than occasional, intense breathwork sessions.

Research consistently shows that blue light from digital devices lacks the power to increase the risk of aging eye diseases or contribute to eye strain. The relief some users feel from blue light glasses may be a placebo effect or due to their anti-glare coating, not blue light filtration.

Marcus Aurelius's "view from above" is a concrete technique, similar to cognitive behavioral therapy, for managing anxiety. It involves visualizing yourself zooming out from your immediate situation to a cosmic scale. This mental drill provides perspective, shrinking overwhelming problems to a more manageable size.

While specific, medically-approved red light therapies show promise for treating conditions like macular degeneration, consumer-grade devices bought online are often unstandardized. They can emit the wrong energy levels, potentially burning the retina and causing irreversible harm.

To significantly slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness, a surprisingly modest diet change is effective. Consuming just two servings of oily fish and 2.7 servings of green leafy vegetables per week reduces the risk of the disease advancing by 41%.