Next week is Thanksgiving for our United States readers. As you plan the arguably most delicious meal of the year 🥧🦃, consider these healthy table tips, including topping swaps, fiber-fueled additions, and breath work, to regulate blood sugar and prevent that stereotypical food-induced nap 😴. Have your (pumpkin) pie and eat it too!
More on sleep this week, as we dive into a surprising health risk of melatonin. But first, let’s talk about hair longevity.
Quick Poll
Which part of sleep feels hardest right now?
Spotlight
It all starts with your scalp
With nearly 60% of people expected to experience hair loss in their lifetime, scalp health is part of the next frontier in hair longevity.
Hair is deeply personal, often an extension of identity. With the hair-loss market projected to hit $16.72 billion by 2030, it’s no surprise people are trying detoxes, serums, and supplements to save their strands.
Ironically, some hair-loss solutions might not start with hair at all, but with your scalp. 💆♀️ Do any of them work? Let’s rank three popular ones.
🍊 Topical antioxidants:
Ingredients like zinc, niacinamide, and caffeine (all popular skincare ingredients) can reduce shedding, make hair appear fuller, and strengthen the scalp barrier. Conditioning treatments containing ingredients such as zinc pyrithione may prevent premature hair loss by reducing inflammation.
🦠 Probiotics:
Just like your gut, your scalp has a microbiome. A balanced scalp microbiome can block harmful pathogens, reduce inflammation, and support hair growth. Probiotics can also boost scalp-moisturizing ceramides, keeping the scalp strong and resilient.
🫧 Scalp detox:
Cleansing and exfoliating help “regulate cellular turnover,” reduce inflammation, and promote blood flow, says trichologist Bridgette Hill, a doctor who treats hair and scalp conditions, in an article in Vogue. But while it supports healthy hair, it doesn’t seem to reverse hair loss.
The takeaway
Healthy hair needs a healthy scalp. 🌱 Scalp care is projected to become one of the biggest trends of 2026, showing promise as a biomarker of overall health.
Antioxidants, conditioning treatments, and a healthy microbiome may support hair growth, yet they still aren’t definitive cures. For personalized insights, scalp imaging (UVR) and dermatologist-guided interventions could reveal underlying issues to support long-term hair health.
Will we see you in San Francisco? | 🗓️ April 2026
Join us at the Livelong Women’s Health Summit, one of the world’s largest women’s health events. 💛
Spend two days with 75 leading experts, including a breakthrough session with legendary actress and fitness icon Jane Fonda 💪🎬. Dive into hands-on experiences, connect with incredible women, and walk away with a clear, actionable roadmap for better sleep, hormones, mental health, and aging well.
Seats are limited—grab yours now. Use code ERIN for $50 off.
Wellness Watch
The new danger of using melatonin to sleep
Sleep protects your health for decades, so what do you do when the things that help you sleep are harmful?
🌙 A massive new study on melatonin users forces us to consider it.
Melatonin supplements mimic the function of the hormone melatonin, which is to regulate our sleep cycle; in the new study, people who took prescription melatonin for more than a year had a higher risk of developing heart failure ❤️🩹, and outright dying, compared to those who didn’t.
Looking at five years of health records of 130,000 adults with insomnia, researchers discovered that daily melatonin users had:
A 2x higher risk of death from any cause ⚠️
A 3.5x increased risk of hospitalization from heart failure
Increased risk of developing heart failure
But the science is groggy: They only looked at people taking prescription melatonin, NOT over-the-counter users. We also don’t know how severe a person’s insomnia had to be, or if they have other mental health conditions.
Big picture: About 35% of Americans struggle with insomnia, linked to immune dysfunction, cognitive decline, and accelerated aging. 🧠⚡
While short-term melatonin is relatively safe, UC Davis researchers emphasize that sleep hygiene should come first:
📆 A consistent sleep/wake schedule
📱 Limited screen time
🌑 A dark, quiet sleep environment
In Other News
Aging might suppress cancer 🧬
Aging usually increases cancer risk (older age = more time for DNA damage), but reaching an extreme age might reduce the chance of cancer developing, according to a first-of-its-kind Stanford study.
When humans approach age 85, cancer rates unexplainably drop. 📉 Looking at lung cancer patterns in old vs. young mice, researchers noticed less aggressive cancer development in older mice.
Why? As they’ve come to understand it, cancer doesn’t have a fertile environment for tumors to grow in older mice. As a flower needs healthy soil to grow, cancer might work the same way. 🌼
Understanding how age-related genetic changes can inhibit cancer growth could open the door to entirely new prevention strategies.
The Brief
Manganese vs. Lyme disease: Overloading or starving the body of manganese weakens bacterial resistance against Lyme treatment.
🤝 You don’t need a BFF: Relationships are a pillar of longevity, but you don’t necessarily need a best friend for happiness.
🍽️: Sunflower meat: The healthy, high-quality meat substitute that could help to meet the global protein demand.
We started a WhatsApp group for our female readers to connect, share tips, and learn how to simplify and take action to promote women’s health. We’d love for you to join us! Join the Livelong Woman WhatsApp group
Long-levity
Welcome to The Dull Men’s Club 🤎
‘Beige is the new black.’
If you enjoy watching paint dry, you might be a “dullster.” That’s the affectionate name for the 1.7 million people in the Dull Men’s Club (women welcome!), a Facebook group devoted to ‘Celebrating the ordinary.’
For dullsters, the extraordinary is overrated. Even golf, with its ‘silly pants and shirts’, is too much 🏌️♂️, says DMC co-founder Leland Carson.
Dullster-approved activities include discussing concrete and photos of condensation. 🧱
Underneath the mundane is something real. 💛 The group helps people find their ikigai, Carson says. Purpose.
Purpose fuels belonging, resilience to stress, immunity, and optimism. It even slows aging and is closely tied to longevity. ✨
And whatever your passion is, aim to find a community to share it with. The reward is a lifetime of connection, creativity, and health.
‘Delight in the wonder of the ordinary.’ —Robin Eveleigh 🌾
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Longevity We’re Loving
SHOULD WOMEN TAKE TESTOSTERONE? Weighing the pros, cons, and unknowns. Read more.
ONE SENTENCE: Acclaimed author Allison Gilbert on the one sentence that can change your life. Watch here.
RECIPE: I found this recipe from the blog Eating Bird Food! With standout ingredients like wild rice, butternut squash, and dried cherries, it’s a fiber-filled, subtly sweet take on the traditional bready stuffing. It’s also gluten-free and vegan.
Thanks for reading!
The information provided about wellness and health is for general informational and educational purposes only. We are not licensed medical professionals, and the content here should not be considered medical advice. Talk to a doctor before trying any of these suggestions.
