#73 MONTHLY MEDICINE... Intermittent screen time™, hitting 'peak cortisol' and a wellness insider's love of 'mindful running'

In which I recap what was well and unwell in the the health space throughout October...

This month in Well, Actually… has been suitably mystical. There was my account of healing in unexpected ways in the Portuguese countryside, and a revelation about hidden ‘energy vampires’ in our midsts. The latest Buy This, Not That… special also revealed the expert verdict on rosemary oil for hair loss, mouth tape for better sleep and Apple’s new hearing aid feature. Now, let’s take a look at what went down in October on the wellness scene…

Olivia Munn

The actress bravely bared her surgery scars in a stunning Skims campaign after undergoing a double mastectomy as part of her breast cancer treatment last year. ‘The way my body looks is just a representation of how hard I fought,’ she explained, in a post on Instagram, as the images were unveiled during Breast Cancer Awareness Month by Kim Kardashian’s brand—who also donated to charity 10% of the retail sales of their bras up until last Thursday. In both the UK and US, the condition is the second most common cause of cancer death in women, and every second longer in the spotlight is a positive if you ask me.

‘Micro walks’

I don’t think I’m alone in often prioritising long strolls over smaller bursts of movement, but there’s evidence that the latter can make a huge difference to health. A study has found that breaking up your sedentary spells into 10 to 20-second ‘micro walks’ is more beneficial than doing it all in one go. Indeed, the researchers discovered that slicing up the windows of time spent on your feet, while still covering the same distance overall, actually used up to 60% more energy. Which makes the strong case for regular tea breaks if you don’t have much time to pound the pavements.

Home cooking

Incredibly monotonous for some (read: me), but hugely healing for Billie Eilish. ‘I don’t really know a lot of recipes,’ the singer told Vogue recently. However, rustling up her own meals from scratch has been really helpful for her body image and ‘eating issues’, she revealed to the magazine, while discussing all the ways she likes to ‘nurture and sustain’ herself now. ‘I definitely am like, oh my god, I deserve this meal,’ she said, of a hard-to-explain revelation that I’m sure many female readers will have felt and which I touched upon in a previous newsletter.

Intermittent screen time™

I’m calling it here: more people are strategically disconnecting from tech for periods of their day, rather than going cold turkey with a 24-hour-plus, full-on digital detox. It’s evident in the ‘airplane mode’ frequently enlisted by many smart friends, and now Carol Vorderman has shared with The Mirror that she turns her smartphone off for a whole 12 hours per day—an act which she says has helped her avoid burnout. ‘Tends to be over the night time hours,’ the TV star explained of how she makes it work (interestingly, in a similar way to intermittent fasting) which also, she adds, curbs late-night scrolling.

Elite goal-setting

I just love Keely Hodgkinson—from her gold medal-securing performance in the 800m at the Olympics, to her unabashedly high-end tastes (she reportedly planned to buy a Porsche and a Louis Vuitton handbag if she was triumphant in Paris). In a more relatable soundbite, the athlete admitted to The Times that ‘running itself is horrible, let’s be honest. You're out of breath a lot’. So, the admirable reason the Team GB champion keeps getting out on the track? She ‘enjoys winning and being competitive’. Which I’m sure is easier if the carrot at the end of the stick is of the more luxurious ilk.