Health
Need a 'winter reset'? Experts share benefits of slowing down during colder months
Are you acting like it’s summer during the winter months?
That’s what TikTok users have been asking as conversations about slowing down during the winter are going viral.
For instance, TikTok creator Alex Mazerolle, a New York yoga instructor, posted a video on Jan. 3 referring to a chat with a friend. She asked him, “Are you acting like it’s summer when it’s winter?”
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“I was just thinking of how much we deny ourselves of our winter,” she said in the video, which so far has more than one million views.
“We think we need to be like summer all the time.”
Mazerolle went on to detail how people are expected to be rested after time off for the holidays — “if you were lucky” — and then jump into a reset in the New Year.
“I want to remind you that winter just started,” she said.
“Right now is the time for dreaming, going within, resting and taking it slow.”
When we act as if it’s summer all the time, one expert said, “we deny our bodies a much-needed interlude.” (iStock)
In an email exchange with Fox News Digital, Mazerolle reiterated that winter is a time of “rest and reflection.”
“If we look to nature, we see that the days are shorter, we experience less light and many animals are hibernating,” she said. “All of this points to conserving our energy and getting rest for the seasons ahead.”
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When we act as though it’s summer all the time, she added, “we deny our bodies a much-needed interlude.”
“Staying busy, productive and social may be beneficial for some folks year-round, but in my experience, taking a break from our fast-paced lives is essential,” Mazerolle said.
The yoga instructor acknowledged that this may be difficult for some people, since society puts “a lot of emphasis on ‘doing’ versus ‘being.’”
Winter is a time of “rest and reflection,” a yoga instructor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“To me, wintering means slowing down, and when we slow down, we often have to face what we have been distracting ourselves from,” she said. “This could look like difficult emotions, feeling guilty for not doing enough or actually coming to terms with physical and/or mental burnout.”
“Right now is the time for dreaming, going within, resting and taking it slow.”
“Many of us would rather pretend it’s summer all the time instead of getting still enough to be present with what’s happening inside of us,” Mazerolle went on. “I call it ‘tending to our inner landscape.’”
Other creators tackled the same concept, including CTA-certified life coach Sarah Welch (@selfexperimenting), who posted a video on Jan. 16 that alerted her viewers to “cut themselves some slack.”
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“If you’re somebody who’s been beating themselves up because you’re not being as productive, you’re not seeing your friends as much, you’ve put on a little bit of weight, or you feel like you’re constantly exhausted, give yourself a little bit of grace,” she said in the video, which has been viewed more than three million times.
The Kentucky-based coach, whose focus is self-discovery and personal growth, told Fox News Digital via email that seasonal changes can impact “mood and energy.”
“Understanding how nature’s cycles affect us enables us to make sense of our behaviors and feelings,” she said.
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“This awareness leads to a deeper respect both for ourselves and the environment, recognizing its significant role in shaping our lives.”
Relaxation during the winter is “essential,” Welch said, as it “aligns with the body’s natural rhythm.”
A certified life coach said that “understanding how nature’s cycles affect us enables us to make sense of our behaviors and feelings.” (iStock)
“This period of rest is crucial for mental and physical rejuvenation,” she said. “It’s a time for reflecting, healing and conserving energy.”
“Additionally, the winter season often brings about a sense of calm and quietude, offering an ideal backdrop for relaxation and self-care activities,” Welch added.
“We underestimate how profoundly light affects all aspects of our health, our functioning and our sleep.”
Allowing yourself to relax during the winter could lead to “improved well-being, greater productivity and a more balanced lifestyle once the more active seasons return,” the life coach said.
Dr. Wendy Troxel, a Utah-based sleep expert and senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, pointed out that we live in a “chronically sleep-deprived society.”
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“About one-third of adults regularly don’t get enough sleep,” she said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “And a much larger percentage, about 70%, regularly don’t get good quality sleep.”
Winter should be a time to prioritize sleep, Troxel said, but added that it goes “beyond the season.”
Dr. Wendy Troxel, senior behavioral scientist at RAND Corporation, is the author of “Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep” and the scientific adviser for SleepFoundation.org. (Diane Baldwin)
“We need to change our attitudes about sleep more broadly,” she said.
Data supports the benefits of slowing down in the winter to accommodate major changes, Troxel noted, including less light exposure.
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“Human beings are truly creatures of light, and we underestimate how profoundly light affects all aspects of our health, our functioning and our sleep,” she said.
The expert recommended “having some grace with oneself” and recognizing that you may need more sleep during this season.
Less sunlight in a day can help facilitate earlier bedtimes, she noted — “that tendency to want to hibernate in the winter can be facilitated by the fact that it’s dark out at night.”
An expert encouraged people to seek out available treatments for seasonal depression or fatigue. (iStock)
Quality of sleep is just as important as quantity, however, noted Troxel.
While some people may feel more fatigued by the lack of sunlight and colder weather, excessive sleep may not always be beneficial in the long run.
“Although there might be a tendency to want more sleep in the winter, the quality of that sleep sometimes suffers,” she said.
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“We want to line up the strategies that will also support good sleep quality, so that doesn’t mean catching sleep wherever you can or sleeping in excessively.”
For those who are struggling with low energy in the winter, Troxel suggested increasing exposure to light by getting outside in the morning or investing in artificial methods like light boxes.
A sleep expert emphasized the importance of light exposure to boost energy levels. (iStock)
Rather than focusing on “winter” and “summer” versions of themselves, Troxel encouraged people to find a way to “recharge their battery” throughout the year and recognize the effects of light on their bodies, brains and behavior.
“So, have some grace with oneself, but … I think we need to recognize the mechanisms that are influencing those changes seasonally and try to find strategies to cope with that,” she said.
Some energy-boosting strategies include social interactions, physical activity and enjoyable activities and hobbies, Troxel suggested.
“That might mean taking time for oneself and engaging in self-care,” she said. “But I would say we need to think about that throughout the year. It’s not just a seasonal thing.”
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There has been a shake-up in the Make America Healthy Again movement regarding glyphosate, a widely used herbicide that has been the subject of significant controversy.
The debate follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that ensures an adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides related to national defense.
MAHA supporters have previously pushed a pesticide-free agenda, warning of potential health harms caused by glyphosate.
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, said he believes there is sufficient evidence linking glyphosate to neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis, to warrant limiting exposure.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that ensures an adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides related to national defense. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
“With Parkinson’s, this association appears to be due to the gut, vagus nerve and brain axis, where the exposure affects the microbiome in the gut, which then ascends slowly up to the brain, causing the neurodegenerative disease years later,” Siegel told Fox News Digital.
“There is also a growing association being found between high-dose glyphosate or occupational exposure and metabolic disorders, liver disease and some cancers, specifically lymphoma.”
He added, “Growing research backs this. I favor limiting it.”
“When we apply them across millions of acres and allow them into our food system, we put Americans at risk.”
Studies have shown that glyphosate, which is used in products such as Roundup, owned by Monsanto, could raise cancer risk.
In one University of Washington study published in the journal Mutation Research, researchers found that exposure to it increased the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41%.
The nonprofit Investigate Midwest, which analyzed data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute, also recently found that pesticides may contribute to cancer rates.
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Among the top 500 counties for per-square-mile pesticide use, more than 60% had cancer rates above the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people, according to the report.
Investigate Midwest, which is based in Illinois, interviewed more than 100 farmers, environmentalists, lawmakers and scientists as part of a partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship.
Among the top 500 counties for per-square-mile pesticide use, more than 60% had cancer rates above the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people, according to one study. (iStock)
Iowa, which used 53 million pounds of pesticides last year, holds the nation’s title for second-highest cancer rate.
Bill Billings, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, was diagnosed with cancer in 2014.
“The cancer specialist said, very directly, (my) cancer is a result of being exposed to chemicals,” Billings said in the report.
Kelly Ryerson, founder of Glyphosate Facts and owner of the Instagram account @glyphosategirl, told Fox News Digital her journey researching the herbicide began with her own health struggles.
Ryerson, who is based in California, previously struggled with chronic illness and autoimmune issues, which she said improved when she stopped eating gluten.
Iowa, which used 53 million pounds of pesticides last year, holds the nation’s title for second-highest cancer rate. (iStock)
After attending a medical conference at Columbia University’s Celiac Disease Center, Ryerson began to question modern farming practices rather than the gluten itself.
“A lot of times, farmers are spraying Roundup on our grains right before harvest to facilitate an easier harvest,” she said. “After that easier harvest, because everything’s dry at the same time, those crops go directly to the mill and may end up in our food supply, at alarmingly high levels.”
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In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization framework, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
The classification was based on limited evidence of cancer in humans (notably non-Hodgkin lymphoma in some studies) and sufficient evidence in experimental animals.
“President Trump’s executive order reinforces the critical need for U.S. farmers to have access to essential, domestically produced crop protection tools, such as glyphosate,” a Monsanto spokesperson said. (Wolf von Dewitz/picture alliance via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Monsanto told Fox News Digital it will comply with Trump’s order to produce glyphosate and elemental phosphorus.
“President Trump’s executive order reinforces the critical need for U.S. farmers to have access to essential, domestically produced crop protection tools, such as glyphosate,” the spokesperson said.
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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been a vocal critic of Roundup, working with his legal team in 2018 to award $289 million to a man who alleged the weed killer caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to reports.
Following backlash to Trump’s executive order, Kennedy said he supports the order but acknowledged that “pesticides and herbicides are toxic by design, engineered to kill living organisms.”
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“When we apply them across millions of acres and allow them into our food system, we put Americans at risk,” he posted on X. “Chemical manufacturers have paid tens of billions of dollars to settle cancer claims linked to their products, and many agricultural communities report elevated cancer rates and chronic disease.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
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Living near heavy traffic could negatively impact your heart health.
A European study, published in the journal Environmental Research, found that exposure to nighttime road traffic noise is linked to changes in the blood, leading to worsened cholesterol and cardiovascular risks.
The researchers considered data from the U.K. Biobank, Rotterdam Study, and Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, including more than 272,000 adults over the age of 30, according to a press release.
Nighttime road noise exposure was estimated at all participants’ homes based on national noise maps. Researchers also took blood samples to measure the participants’ metabolic biomarkers for disease, then mapped the link between nightly noise levels and existence of biomarkers.
Exposure to loud noise was associated with increased concentrations of cholesterol-related biomarkers. (iStock)
The study found that people exposed to louder noise at night — especially sounds above 55 decibels — showed changes in 48 different substances in their blood. Twenty of these associations “remained robust” throughout all cohorts.
Exposure to loud noise was associated with increased concentrations of cholesterol-related biomarkers, especially LDL “bad” cholesterol, IDL (intermediate-density lipoprotein) and unsaturated fatty acids.
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As noise levels increased, starting at around 50 decibels, cholesterol markers rose steadily, the release stated.
The authors concluded that this study “provides evidence that nighttime road traffic noise exposure from 50 dB upward is associated with alterations in blood cholesterol and lipid profiles in adults.”
Researchers noted a link between traffic noise and cardiometabolic disease. (iStock)
Study co-author Yiyan He, doctoral researcher at the University of Oulu in Finland, noted that in this type of research, small effect sizes are expected, and environmental exposures such as traffic noise are “typically modest.”
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“Despite this, we observed statistically robust and consistent associations across many biomarkers, especially those related to LDL and IDL lipoproteins,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“We also identified a clear exposure-response pattern starting at around 50 dB, suggesting that metabolic changes become more evident as noise levels increase.”
This aligns with public health guidance, as the World Health Organization recommends lower nighttime noise limits at around 40 to 45 dB, Yiyan He added.
“This finding may clarify the association between traffic noise and cardiometabolic diseases,” the researchers wrote. (iStock)
“The 55 dB level is often used as an interim benchmark associated with substantial noise annoyance and sleep disturbance,” she said. “In our study, we observed associations not only at 55 dB, but also indications of effects emerging at around 50 dB.”
The strength and consistency of the cholesterol-related associations were surprising, as these changes are usually “subtle.”
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“Instead, we found consistent associations across multiple large European cohorts, which strengthens confidence that the findings may reflect real biological patterns,” Yiyan He went on. “We were also interested to see that effects were minimal below ~50 dB, suggesting a possible threshold-like pattern.”
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The researcher noted that these findings were consistent across genders, education levels and obesity status.
The study was restricted to White Europeans, which posed a limitation. There was also a lack of information on the fasting status in the UK Biobank.
Changes in cholesterol levels were more severe than researchers expected. (iStock)
“Fasting can influence levels of certain metabolites, particularly fatty acids,” Yiyan He said. “However, based on UK Biobank documentation, fewer than 10% of participants were fasting for at least eight hours, and our main findings focused on cholesterol-related biomarkers, which are generally less sensitive to short-term fasting.”
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The researchers also lacked information on bedroom location, indoor noise exposure and time spent at home.
“These factors may introduce non-differential exposure misclassification,” Yiyan He said. “Additionally, noise exposure estimates were based on participants’ temporary residential addresses at the time of blood sampling, without considering the duration of residence.”
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“Many of these limitations would tend to bias results toward the null, so the consistent associations we observed remain noteworthy.”
Experts recommend taking measures to limit traffic noise at night. (iStock)
Based on this latest research, Yiyan He noted that nighttime noise is a “health-relevant exposure,” not just “an annoyance.”
“Our findings suggest that nighttime traffic noise may subtly but consistently affect metabolic health,” she said. “While the changes in cholesterol and lipid levels for any one individual are small, traffic noise affects a very large number of people, which means the potential public health impact could be substantial.”
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The researcher recommends taking measures like improving sound insulation, using noise-reducing strategies and placing bedrooms on the quieter side of the home when possible.
“Because sleep is a key pathway linking noise to health, protecting the nighttime sleep environment is especially important,” she added.
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