Ever wondered why you were told to drink a cup of tea before bed to help you relax? Tea isn't just a good source of antioxidants—it also contains a unique amino acid, L-theanine, which has received recent attention for claimed “stress-reducing” effects.[1]  And though many "stress-reducing" supplements have come to market to combat the recent rise in societal stress, many don't live up to their claims. So what makes L-theanine different? Is L-theanine safe and effective to take to relieve ...

I often get asked for perspective on how running as a mother is different from running life without kids. The answer is, I really don’t know. I didn’t start running with any amount of seriousness until after my first child was born, and this may be where my burst of visceral energy came from. Giving birth and raising children has been the most invigorating, exhausting whirl of momentum I have yet to experience in my life. For me, running and motherhood have always been woven together in a wild ...

Stress plays a prominent role in how we, as humans, perceive ourselves and others. We also know that stress plays an integral part in our health; from our blood biomarkers to our physiological state and lifespan, stress has a cascade effect on just about every aspect of our health. We sat down with Dr. Caroline Leaf, author of Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, to discuss her proven strategies to reduce stress through managing the mind.[1]

I’ll sleep when I’m dead. That used to be my mantra. It felt concordant with a common mindset—one in which we see burning the candle at both ends as a sign of determination and unwavering focus. We celebrate folks who work around the clock to get things done, and we overlook the fact that perhaps they have neglected their families, health, and mental well-being to do so. But I went from being that person, the one who would tattoo her workout posts with the hashtag #NoDaysOff (completely ...

It’s no scientific breakthrough that music can impact our brain mental state. Research shows that music can significantly improve mood, stress, cognitive performance, and even endurance and power when applied correctly. How exactly does music benefit the brain and body? Most evidence points to the fact that it boosts mood, which has other downstream effects. Here's a summary of what we know.

Our current reality is undoubtedly anxiety-inducing. And understandably, demand for household products such as toilet-paper and hand sanitizer has spiked in response. But perhaps more surprising is the surge in e-commerce sales of self-care products containing CBD oil. CBD is perhaps best known for its beneficial effects on anxiety and sleep, and up until recently, this was merely hearsay.[1] The past five years have been pivotal for the legalization of CBD and its use in clinical trials. But ...

As the current health crisis unfolds, endurance athletes around the world are seeing races cancelled. This decision is appropriate and necessary to do our part in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19, but, understandably, a number of athletes have expressed feeling that their training has been ‘lost’ or 'wasted' and are unsure of how to approach life without the structure and planning training provides. So we caught up with two professional athletes from the InsideTracker community to learn ...

COVID-19 has thrust us into a new world of isolation and uncertainty that challenges our mental health daily. However, finding support in each other can help us persist despite this unpredictable time. So, we turned to members of the InsideTracker community to find out about strategies they find particularly helpful to support their mental health. It turns out, some approaches are so powerful that researchers have been studying them for decades—and some healthcare professionals go as far as to ...