Here’s a little secret about your heart: Your ticker loves it when you sleep.

Good, consistent sleep is great for our heart. Poor sleep, notsomuch.

Sleep helps everything from our immune system to our mental health. But our heart also benefits.

Let’s start with blood pressure. When we sleep, our heart rate slows down and our blood pressure decreases. This gives our cardiovascular system a reprieve from the day’s stresses while our cells repair themselves.

Sleep is still a little bit of a mystery. While we don’t know everything about sleep, we think it does several important things.

Sleep helps us conserve energy. When we sleep, our metabolic rate drops. We use about 35 percent less energy than we do when we’re awake.

That doesn’t mean our body is at complete rest when we’re snoozing. For example, our body is busy repairing the damage we did when we were awake. Our cells repair themselves and regrow. They create proteins and hormones and other substances that help us function when our eyes are open.

Will the bird flu be the next pandemic? The answer is probably no. In fact, only one mild case has been found in humans in 2024.

But that hasn’t stopped it from being front-page news.

Yes, public health officials are on high alert: Bird flu has a high death rate. However, the rate of transmission to humans is very low and vaccines to help prevent it and medications used to treat it are still effective, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 50 percent of the world’s population relies on rice. It’s a staple in more than 100 countries because it’s affordable, convenient and versatile, lending itself to many different dishes and types of meals.

Generally, rice is gluten-free, high in carbohydrates, with some fiber and protein and very little sugar and fat. Many rice varieties are rich in vitamins, minerals and flavonoids – plant pigments with possible anti-cancer properties.

It’s not news that eating junk food can raise the risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, gut health issues, heart health issues, depression, some cancers and dementia.

Metabolic syndrome is the term used to describe a cluster of risk factors – obesity (particularly excess abdominal fat), high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low good cholesterol (HDL), and insulin resistance -- that raise the risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, kidney disease and sleep apnea. The condition is quite common; in fact, one in three Americans have it. 

It’s not news that we should be drinking lots of water each day. Many people find water boring; in response, manufacturers began enhancing water with flavors and nutrients. These waters are known as designer waters and many brands tout health benefits to justify their price tag.

The latest: hydrogen water.

Joining a fitness center is probably the easiest, most convenient way to get a well-rounded workout. But exercisers sneeze, cough and breath hard (expelling airborne droplets of germs), leaving most gyms and studios teeming with bacteria and viruses. In fact, the average treadmill, exercise bike and free weight can have more than 1 million germs per square inch apiece, according to a study conducted by FitRated. And some of the germs can cause staphylococcus, ringworm and MRSA infections. 

We all experience stress to some degree – it’s part of life and can actually be positive because it’s an inherent and essential physiological reaction that helps us react to danger or sense the heightened thrill of experiences.

If you have trouble sleeping, you’re not alone. Around 35% of adults have a sleep disorder. If you head to bed tired at night but can’t go to sleep — including not being able to fall asleep, restless sleep, waking up multiple times during the night, not being able to stay asleep as long as you’d like, and/or waking up early and not being able to fall back to sleep — you may be suffering from insomnia, the medical term for sleep deprivation.