One year ago today, the Well+Being desk at The Washington Post published its first articles. We answered questions about vitamin D (most people get plenty from their diet and the sun) and the latest research on ketamine for mental health (early research is promising, but it doesn’t work for everyone).
In the days that followed we shared news about the power of awe, how better sleep can lead to better eating habits and the perils of sitting all day even if you exercise regularly.
We chose the name Well+Being carefully, because we know that optimal health means both staying physically well “plus” nurturing your entire being — the body, the mind and all the relationships that matter most in life (including with our pets). At Well+Being, our goal has always been to empower you, our readers, with science-based advice to help you make informed choices about your health.
To celebrate our first trip around the sun, we’ve picked some of our best advice for living well everyday.
Forget 10,000 steps.
There is nothing magical about 10,000 steps a day. So feel free to let go of that goal, writes Your Move columnist Gretchen Reynolds. New research shows that for men and women younger than 60, the greatest benefit came with step counts of between about 8,000 and 10,000 per day. For people older than 60, the threshold was a little lower. For them, the sweet spot for reduced mortality risk came at between 6,000 and 8,000 steps a day.
