A gentle exercise to stave off cognitive decline

Plus: Clever ways to reduce household waste

View this email online November 12, 2023 by Andrea Muraskin This week: Tai chi has known benefits for helping with balance and reducing pain, but a new study shows practicing the low-key martial art can also improve memory and slow down cognitive decline for older adults. Also: While it can be hard to quit the high-consumption lifestyle, reducing waste in your day to day could be easier than you think. And: We’ve got the early results of a study from NPR and Columbia University on whether quick movement breaks can mitigate the health effects of working at a computer.  Cut down your household waste with these 5 creative solutions Kaz Fantone/NPR Living in hyper-expensive Boston, I like to say two things are affordable in this town: health care and second-hand stuff. Through my neighborhood “Buy Nothing” group, Facebook Marketplace, and other social media accounts, I’ve picked up furniture, kitchen gear and dry foods on the cheap or even free. Plus, I feel good knowing I’m creating less waste with new purchases.  For reporter Kavita George, low-waste has long been a way of life, thanks to her mother, who used old margarine tubs and Danish butter cookie tins for storage and cut up her dad’s old shirts to make cleaning rags. For a recent Life Kit episode, George spoke with Isaias Hernandez, a Los Angeles-based environmental educator who runs the Instagram account Queer Brown Vegan about ways that anyone can cut down on household waste.  Hernandez recommends starting with a household waste audit, writing down the things you throw away in each room of your home, or by activity. For example, floss and disposable toothbrushes in the bathroom, and paper towels in the kitchen. Then, make some changes that fit into your lifestyle. Hernandez switched to cloth towels that he washes at the end of the day.  To reduce food waste, you can check to see if your neighborhood has a compost pickup service available. (More items may be compostable than you think!) Or start your own backyard compost heap. You can also lower your waste in the ways you bring food into the home, by things like swapping plastic produce baggies for mesh reusable ones, or just letting your potatoes hang out in the shopping cart al fresco. Start a garden, or give foraging a try – it’s super fun.  Save money and resources with these 5 waste-cutting tips. We’d love to hear your household hacks for cutting down on waste. Respond to this email or write to us at shots@npr.org, and you might see your tip in a future newsletter. ⬇️🗑️ Newsletter continues after sponsor message Tai chi helps boost memory, study finds. One type seems most beneficial PYMCA/Avalon via Getty Images It’s well known that practicing tai chi, with its gentle, fluid movements and weight shifts, can help reduce the rate of falls and improve balance for older adults. The martial art has also been shown to reduce pain and stiffness from osteoarthritis. A new study finds tai chi can help slow cognitive decline and protect against dementia, as NPR’s Allison Aubrey reports. Study author Dr. Elizabeth Eckstrom, a gerontologist, thinks that tai chi boosts memory because practitioners have to memorize a sequence of movements, sort of like a dance choreography.  The research involved about 300 older adults, most in their 70s, who all said their memory wasn’t as good as it used to be. At the beginning of the study, each participant took a short cognitive test. With 30 being the most possible points, participants averaged 25 points, which is considered mild cognitive impairment.  People who practiced a simplified form of tai chi called Tai Ji Quan twice a week for about six months improved their score by 1.5 points. This increase may not sound like a lot, but "you've basically given yourself three extra years" of staving off decline, says Eckstrom. In a similar study, participants who practiced a kind of “cognitively enhanced tai chi” – which layered on an additional mental task while doing the movements – saw twice as much improvement.  Learn how tai chi can help keep you sharp. Also: Does drinking alcohol affect your dementia risk? We asked a researcher for insights   Spread the warmth of the holidays with NPR Get into the holiday spirit with official merch from your favorite NPR podcasts and shows! With a curated selection of unique gifts, from totes and mugs to your new favorite hoodie, you can embrace the joy of gifting while supporting quality journalism and storytelling with every purchase.   Shop now at shopnpr.org! Results are in: Workers who took “exercise snacks” report improved mood, more energy throughout the day Daniel Hertzberg Earlier this fall, NPR and Columbia University invited office workers to participate in a real-world experiment. More than 20,000 participants – perhaps you were one of them – signed up to see if modern humans can square our savannah-evolved bodies with computer-bound livelihoods. Could taking brief movement breaks mitigate the negative health effects of an otherwise sedentary work day, like fatigue and low mood? And is leaving their desks for a stroll at set intervals a regimen that people would stick to?  Participants were broken up into cohorts: one group was asked to take breaks every thirty minutes, a second group would take breaks every hour, and a third group would take breaks every two hours. Each break consisted of five minutes of continuous full-body movement, like walking.  Diaz and his team found a "dose response relationship," meaning the more breaks a person took, the better they felt. That said, about 8,000 dropped out before the end of the study.  Read the topline findings, and listen to the final episode of NPR's series “Body Electric” to hear participants’ reflections. One woman found the experiment was the push she needed to quit her job!  Get all six episodes of Body Electric, a special podcast series about fixing the relationship between our bodies and tech, with TED Radio Hour host Manoush Zomorodi. +Don’t miss: Overwhelmed by doom scrolling? Time to check in with your body Our readers take the plunge 🌊 Last month when we shared Will Stone’s report on the science (and joy) of cold water plunging, we asked readers if you had any experiences to share. Here are a few of our favorite responses:  I live in Olympia and have been wanting to plunge in the Salish Sea for a long time. Finally, on my birthday in April of this year, I decided to do it. I lasted about 30 seconds in the intensely chilly water, but got all the way in! I felt amazing and so overjoyed that I finally took the plunge! My wife quickly joined me in the adventure and now it’s a lovely thing that we've been doing together at least a couple times a week since then. It didn’t take long before 30 seconds became 20 minutes and with fins, a knit cap, and a simple swimsuit – we look forward to playing in the water all year long. Now, on hikes or camping trips, I can’t help but get into whatever water is near me. I’m hooked! I am grateful for the community of swimmers here who are friendly, kind and inspiring.  As for health benefits, it has been a beautiful infusion of joy into my marriage, it gives me a noticeable sense of space during what could otherwise be a potentially challenging day, and it is possible that it keeps my immune system stronger - as a health care provider I’ve managed to avoid most of the funk that has been going around these last 3 seasons.   – Bobbi Jo Epperson, Olympia, Wash. I’m an 81 year old male who quit the gym in March 2020 when COVID came. Each year I felt I’d closed our 32 foot pool too soon, even in November. Last year I swam through the winter, generally in 5-10+ minute plunges. I’m less fast than before. I do feel exhilarated, sometimes during, sometimes after. I can take 1-3 hours to warm up afterwards. – Hampton Howell, Nashville, Tenn. We call ourselves the polar plungers! It all began on an early morning summer walk in 2022. My friends and I began to talk about doing the annual winter plunge for the special Olympics in Lake George. Fast forward to November and we jumped in the Battenkill River in Arlington, Vermont. We stayed in for about 3.5 seconds, ran to the car and blasted the heat. Within minutes we felt invigorated, ready to take on the world and started talking about our next plunge!  (We raised money for Operation Santa - a local community drive organization). Almost a year later, we have been plunging on a regular basis. One friend has her own tub. Another still has her pool open (we live in upstate New York). And we are up to 3 minutes! We are hooked. Is it good for the body and mind?  Heck yes. Is it good for the soul? Most definitely.  – Maureen Niesz, New York Before you go: Science & Society Picture Library via Getty Images It’s time to pick a health insurance plan for 2024. Here's a handy glossary The DNA of head lice tell a revealing story about human history Science says teens need more sleep. So why is it so hard to start school later? Tyson recalls 30,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after metal pieces were found inside We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism on Shots. All the best, Andrea Muraskin and your NPR Health editors Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: shots@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Goats & Soda, Up First, Life Kit and more! 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