Keeping the “Live” in Alive! – This Week’s Wellness Wednesday Recap of the upbeat show and podcast.
By Debbie Nigro
There’s a massive global shift happening—and it’s all about longevity.
Not just living longer…
Living BETTER, longer.
We’re talking:
- Adding life to your years
- Not accepting “my best days are behind me”
- A whole new chapter mindset
Your BEST chapter might be coming… but only if you act like it matters.
“Longevity isn’t about adding years to your life—it’s about adding more LIFE to your years.”
That’s the whole vibe behind this week’s Wellness Wednesday— from longevity science to lollipops… and astronauts circling the moon.
World Health Day Happened Again
It is celebrated annually and each year draws attention to a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world.
The 2026 Movement Theme?: “Together for health. Stand with science.”
The multicultural year long campaign spotlights both scientific achievements and the multicultural cooperation. Needed to turn evidence into action.
The date April 7th marks the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948.
Neuro Wellness Is the New Frontier
Okay THIS was wild…
Welcome to Neuro Wellness—aka:
Technology that can track and regulate your nervous system in real time.
We’re moving from:
- “I feel stressed”
TO - “Here’s the DATA showing you’re burned out”
Think:
- Nervous system tracking
- Mental fitness training
- Real-time stress + resilience measurement
I mean… imagine your burnout showing up like a weather report?
Found a very enlightening article on Outside Online which sparked much of my conversation today.
The Rise of High-Tech Longevity Clinics
This one blew my mind…
Places like Fountain Life are popping up offering:
- Advanced AI diagnostics
- Early disease detection
- Full-body scans BEFORE symptoms show up
And yes… Tony Robbins is involved in this one.
The Big Idea?
Stop reacting to illness… start predicting it and get ahead of it.
Would you want to know everything that might go wrong with your body in advance?
I’m still deciding.
Sleep Optimization Is a Whole Thing Now
Sleep is no longer just… sleep.
It’s:
- Hormones
- Brain recovery
- Longevity
- Metabolism
- EVERYTHING
And yes…
There are now:
- Sleep trackers
- Wearables
- Circadian rhythm experts (shoutout to my Amtrak seatmate!)
Also—fun fact:
Babies in Norway nap OUTSIDE in the cold
(And apparently sleep better because of it according to some Norwegians I ran into)
We Are Overcomplicating Wellness
Hot take from me this week:
I read we are OVERCOMPLICATING wellness. I agree.
Sometimes the answer is:
- Call a friend
- Laugh harder
- Get out of your house
- Talk to actual humans
Because:
Connection = Energy
Energy = Life
That’s it. That’s what I have always known.
My Tai Chi Experiment (Yes… really)
I tried Tai Chi at home (rather than embarrass myself first time doing it in a park by a stream)
Tai chi is often described as “meditation in motion,” but it might well be called ‘medication’ in motion, according to an article from Harvard Medical School.
I’m trying it to try and shore up my balance. (Tipping over trying to put on a pair of pants is seriously unacceptable)
Tai chi is a low impact, “meditation in motion” practice that combines slow, graceful movements with deep breathing to improve physical and mental health.
Key benefits include improved balance and reduced fall risk in older adults, enhanced flexibility, increased muscle strength, stress reduction and better cardiovascular health, making it an accessible exercise for all fitness levels.
And WOW.
Turns out:
Breathing alone can energize your entire body
Who knew the thing we do for free…
…could be that powerful?
Could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life!
NASA, Artemis II & A Little Perspective
Quick detour to outer SPACE (as one does on occasion…)
NASA’s Artemis II mission had people buzzing again—and it reminded me there’s still so much wonder in the world.
And reminded me that we are lucky there are some very brave people in the world willing to “Risk It! or Reget It!” on behalf of all of us.
When this radio show was live, the Artemis Crew was still up in space. I wanted to see what they were seeing so I went onto NASA’s website and sat virtually inside a spacecraft online.
TOO COOL and also hard to process that we humans and other life actually exist on this spinning planet.
The Artemis Crew has since safely returned to earth after a 10-day record setting mission. The four astronauts traveled farther from earth than any humans in 50 years.
I’m thrilled we are collectively appreciating the NASA space missions again like so many of us grew up witnessing in awe together.
I’d like to personally salute and thank the NASA Astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
And loved that Artemis II Commander Reid Weisman and his crew named a moon crater “Carroll” after his late wife Carroll Taylor Wiseman who passed away from cancer in 2020. The touching tribute was announced by fellow astronaut Jeremy Hansen during the crew’s lunar fly-around on April 6, 2026, as a memorial to her life.
He sincerely loved her to the moon and back.
Wellness Trends You Should Know (2026 Edition)
The Whole Summary
The Inside Word Straight from the Outside Magazine piece called:
Big trends include:
- Metabolic health focus
- GLP-1 weight loss drugs (with caution!)
- Social fitness (goodbye lonely workouts!)
- Alcohol-free social clubs
- Run clubs & community wellness
Translation:
Wellness is becoming SOCIAL again—and I love that.
I’ve written a book to help encourage people to get out and talk to one another in person as much as possible. It’s called “How To Talk To Strangers – Advice from a Professional Stranger Talker”
It’s an ebook and an audio book too that I recorded myself. It’s on Amazon.
Viral Nutrition Hacks (Worth It or Not?)
I also read in Outside Online about the upside and the downside of some trending health ‘hacks’.
They spoke of…
Apple cider vinegar shots
Fiber-maxing (more important than Vitamin C!)
Water stacking (careful—too much is dangerous!)
Chipotle “health bowl” hack
Alert Pop™ – My “Secret Weapon” for Staying More Alive
Had to sneak this in…
If you missed it:
I’ve been working on Alert Pop™ sugar-free caffeinated lollipops for a year. They recently launched online and you’ll soon be seeing them at retail locations around the country. Each lollipop has only a half of cups worth of organic green tea caffeine. Clean Functional Energy. Not for kids. Foer adults who want a better for you energy alternative.
Why Alert Pop™ matters:
- Created to fight drowsy driving
- Gentle energy boost
- No overload on caffeine like energy drinks which can actually harm you.
And …
Alert Pop™ works FAST because of how it absorbs in your mouth.
(Watermelon, Blue Raspberry and Espresso which is my favorite )
I am a Founding Partner.
Check them out at AlertPop.com and feel free to use my discount code DN20 for 20% off.
Debbie’s End of Show “Daily Toast”
“If you want to be happy…
Don’t live in the past.
Don’t worry about the future.
Live fully in the present.”
Because the present?
It’s a gift.
Final Thought
This whole show comes down to one thing:
You don’t just want to be alive…
You want to feel ALIVE!
- Try something new
- Call someone you love
- Take care of your body AND your mind
And remember…
In the immortal words of myself lol
“If ya still got a pulse… ya still got a shot!” –
Debservations
___________________
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: If you’d rather read than listen.
040826-0 (1)
0:00:05
(Speaker 1)
It’s time for the Debbie Nigro show with Debbie Nigro, who says she’s still a babe, or at least she thinks she still is. That’s right. Attitude is everything. And Debbie’s delusionally young. No one sees the glass of Cabernet half full like Debbie. She’s fresh air with a magnetic flair.
0:00:21
(Speaker 1)
Someday has arrived. And as far as she’s concerned, it’s time to roll. Oh, yeah. Time passes much too quickly. And here we are again. Hi, everybody.
0:01:13
(Speaker 1)
I’m Debbie Nigro. It’s Wellness Wednesday. Trying to keep that living alive, man. It’s getting tougher, but we’re doing it, doing it. Good morning, Bob. Good to be in the studio with you again today.
0:01:25
(Speaker 1)
How you been, my friend? You know, I was thinking about the drive up today because I looked at my gas tank and I was like, did I just put gas in there? And I did. But I guess I didn’t put as much as I usually do because I was not at my usual gas station. I kind of like going to Costco and getting my gas. You know, I got a little routine.
0:01:45
(Speaker 1)
I belong to Costco. They give me a cheaper gas price and I hate going. There’s a lot of people in line. So I go into my own little time. I got my lane. Don’t you always?
0:01:54
(Speaker 1)
I don’t know if you guys do this, but you find a lane that you like where you or gas station you like and you kind of always pull in the same lane. Do you do that? I can’t. The one I’ve chosen is very, very busy. I just have to take what I get. Oh, you got to take what you get.
0:02:08
(Speaker 1)
All right. Yeah, I like my lane. But anyway. I haven’t been able to get there because sometimes I forget I don’t have gas and I just stop. I’m like, is that $7 ,000 a gallon? What are we doing here?
0:02:20
(Speaker 1)
So I was joking in my head. I said, oh, it’s good I only do the show one day a week now because gas. Anyway, great day in the world yesterday, like World Health Day. I don’t know if you knew that, but it was. I wasn’t here to do it, but I’m here today. It’s kind of the day of the year that everybody just thinks about or thinks more about.
0:02:44
(Speaker 1)
the health of the world, the health of each of us in the world. You know, we’re so blessed here in the United States to have access to great healthcare, right? We just are. But something else is going on that is a trend, big trend for 2026. And it’s the longevity trend. Everybody’s getting into the business of longevity.
0:03:09
(Speaker 1)
Because it’s not about adding years to your life so much as it is about adding life to your years. That’s what I’m kind of here to talk about and what I try and remind myself too. And we all should remind ourselves. And a lot of people think their best years are behind them. I’d like a word with you people. No, that’s not the case, right?
0:03:29
(Speaker 1)
There’s a whole movement happening right now. And there are new dreams, there’s new energy, new guts. The world is different. And you need to catch up with that and do the best you can for yourself. I think this may be your best chapter coming up. Can you imagine if it was your best chapter and you didn’t know that but you didn’t take it seriously but there it was?
0:03:49
(Speaker 1)
I think so. I feel mentally at the top of my game right now. What about you Bobby? No, I wouldn’t say that. Plus, physically I don’t say I’m at the top of my game, but I do feel there are things I haven’t done that we’ll possibly get a chance to do. Yeah, you have to push for the things you kept meaning to do.
0:04:08
(Speaker 1)
I still haven’t been to Italy. That’s just ridiculous. There you go. I find myself drawn to all these social media posts of beautiful places in Italy. And they’re trying to lure me, Bob. They’re trying to lure me.
0:04:19
(Speaker 1)
And they’re trying to lure me to places that are off the beaten track, not quite where the usual crowds would go. But like, if you like this, you’ll really like this, you know, like, if you like this idea, but don’t like crowds, you like this environment, which, you know, and this time of year. So I’m doing more homework. I’m trying to step up the things I’ve been meaning to do. I did something fun this week that I have never done. I did Tai Chi.
0:04:41
(Speaker 1)
Really? Yeah, I did. All by myself, though. Like in my house. Okay, well, that’s better than not doing it. I had no idea.
0:04:49
(Speaker 1)
how breathing can affect, it’s a lot about breathing and being conscious of your body. And you’re doing exercises, but it’s a lot of, you know, holding your breath. I had no idea how energized you can get with just your own breath. There was a lady on Home Shopping Network years ago. I mean, a lot of years ago. It could have been in the 80s or 90s.
0:05:06
(Speaker 1)
I don’t remember, but she was out there selling a breathing tape, an oxygen, it was like an oxygen workout. Do you remember her? No, I don’t. I was like, oh, well, that’s free. I don’t have to pay for that. Anyway, I think a lot of us are overcomplicating wellness.
0:05:24
(Speaker 1)
That’s kind of my stance on the whole thing. I think part of feeling more alive is being out there talking to people who are alive as opposed to your computer and your phone and your text. I think that’s a really big piece of it and not enough people are doing that. Think back over your last week. How many interactions did you have with actual human beings outside of your usual pod or yourself in your everyday life? Maybe a little friend conversation, not the way you used to.
0:06:04
(Speaker 1)
I actually laugh with my friends. I go, remember the olden days when we used to meet and go out and have fun? Now you do it so infrequently that everybody takes a picture to try and remember it. Like, oh yeah, there we were that day. Anyway, in terms of not overcomplicating wellness, I think sometimes the answer is just call a friend. Go out, laugh a little more, be around people.
0:06:26
(Speaker 1)
Because connection equals energy, right? And energy equals life. That’s what I’ve come to want to share with you today. Okay. You know, and then just remember that staying alive and having more lips, not just physical, no, no, no, it’s not, you know, it’s not just your body, but what about your mind? Okay.
0:06:47
(Speaker 1)
What about that mind? You know, a lot of what happens every day is emotional. It’s mental. it’s all that going on right it’s the breathing i talked about it’s about letting things go now that’s a really big phrase okay you know that song let it go let it um let it snow no let it go what is that from uh frozen right yeah that’s why you said snow yeah yeah let it go go Because that’s when you really own your power. When you don’t let other things like aggravate you or keep you from doing something or get in the way, just like, you know, who can’t let it go? You’re going to be dead.
0:07:30
(Speaker 1)
Come on, let it go. So, okay, that’s what we’re doing. All right. Keeping the living alive, that’s what I’m kind of all about on this day of the week, especially this week with World Health Day. And there’s a lot of things that we can do. talk about.
0:07:46
(Speaker 1)
Um, you know, and again, I’m doing more about, uh, uh, feeling alive versus being alive. Cause we know all about that. Um, you know, people check their boxes, they go through the day, they do what they’re supposed to do and they still feel like something’s missing. Right. And then there’s moments you get when you’re like with somebody and you’re laughing your tail off, like a hysterical moment, or you’re trying something new. Um, you’re curious, you’re feeling energized, you’re feeling a little gutsy.
0:08:11
(Speaker 1)
That’s what I’m talking about, about being alive. All right. Um, The longevity thing, which I’m going to touch on, and some of the research I did is bizarre. Really? As to what’s going on out there. I really had no idea how many establishments are popping up.
0:08:29
(Speaker 1)
that are telling you, come on in and we’re going to do like biomedical everything on your body. So we’re going to be able to tell you way in advance if you’re at risk for certain diseases so you can catch them early. And I’m like, okay, why wouldn’t you do this? And then I was thinking, my gosh, if somebody told me I was at risk for like 27 different diseases, I don’t think I would have a very relaxed state that day forward. You would like to know, though. You think?
0:08:59
(Speaker 1)
I think. Yeah, I think. Look, I’m here as an example of catching things early, right? If I didn’t catch the cancer. twice early, we’d not be having this conversation. But the sophistication of the biomedical, like when you walk in, I don’t know what they do to you.
0:09:16
(Speaker 1)
I have to go to one of these places and see for myself. I’m going to name a couple of the places that are doing this that I read about. You may want to check out for yourself. And of course, we’ll have a lot of fun just hanging out. And I’m not doing any video today because I just didn’t want to get all gussied. I wanted to do talk radio the way I love doing talk radio, which is not quite out of the shower, but you know.
0:09:40
(Speaker 1)
quite gussied. I’ll be right back. I’m Debbie Nigro. How about those people flying around the moon, eh? Oh boy, I got interested in this, as we all have. Finally, once again, getting excited about something NASA is doing.
0:10:17
(Speaker 1)
We got very complacent from the time when we first went. sent humans to the moon. Hi everybody, I’m Debbie Nigro, keeping the living alive, and you know, whatever floats your boat, but you’re never going to see me floating in space. That does not float my boat. That makes me nervous and cooped feeling. I don’t have the guts to go to space.
0:10:37
(Speaker 1)
Do you, Bobby? Could you be in that capsule? Could you be in Artemis 2 around the moon? I could do it. You could do it? Yeah, I could do it.
0:10:43
(Speaker 1)
I think I could do it. You know what intrigues me, though? I would love to feel the no -gravity thing and have my hair float around. I’m always like, wow, how cool would that be? There are places you can do that on Earth somewhere. Where?
0:10:56
(Speaker 1)
Where can I go? Antigravity? Well, they have that airplane that you have to get a special dispensation to fly in. What do they call it? The Vomit Comet, which is a great name, not really. Shut up.
0:11:07
(Speaker 1)
Shut up. And all it does is it It climbs up and then it dives, basically allows itself to fall to the earth for, I don’t know, 15 minutes? I’ve never taken a ride on that. I don’t know if it’s even that long. And while it’s falling, inside, you feel like you have no gravity. Oh, with the vomit floating around.
0:11:28
(Speaker 1)
That’s a very beautiful visual. I can’t even say the word without gagging. I know. Linda told me that she could never say the word either. Neither can my college roommate, Tina. And Aunt Linda said that it’s so bad that she can’t say that her and her sister, Aunt Yoli, who passed, God bless her, used to call it flowers just because they couldn’t call it anything else.
0:11:44
(Speaker 1)
It was just like the worst thing. Whatever. Yay. All right. So speaking of relatives, I got to just say this one thing. I have this cousin, Jennifer.
0:11:56
(Speaker 1)
who’s like the best, like the smartest, cutest. She’s not first cousin, but she’s like second. She’s just adorable. And she’s a fan of the show, and she listens. So I’m getting a text in the middle of the show right now, which is priceless, that somehow she got her… First, she tells me there’s a girl that’s on another radio station that sounds like me, and that people are like, oh my gosh, this sounds like Debbie Nigro.
0:12:15
(Speaker 1)
It’s on 1010. It’s not me. But I got to listen because… Like, she could be an imposter. She could be, like, making believe it’s me. But anyway, she has a girl who works with her named Carmen, who now is a new fan, and they’re at the Westchester County Youth Bureau, and I’m doing a shout -out.
0:12:32
(Speaker 1)
Shout -out. Give me a thumbs -up on my text if you heard me, girls. It’s always fun to connect that way with people, and I get a kick out of people listening to the show. I’m only doing the show once a week live now, Wednesdays, keeping the live in a live, which is today’s theme. And the reason I’m doing that is because I think I can do a better job of really what everybody expects of media these days, which is not just a live radio show, which I’m doing today, and I don’t care if you don’t like that you can’t see me, but adding video and podcasts and social media clips and all that. It’s very exhausting.
0:13:03
(Speaker 1)
It takes a lot of time, and I was trying to do it for too many days of the week, and I was failing at doing it right. So I’m stepping up, doing it one day a week, and that’s why I look forward to it. I collect my information all week. So anyway, I don’t know who that is, but that sounds nice, Bob. Let’s go back to being on the moon and how I’m not going there. But what I have been doing in the last day or so is I’m on the NASA website.
0:13:30
(Speaker 1)
where they I’m looking at Artemis 2 and you can go on Artemis a nasa .gov gov missions Artemis I don’t know what it is, but you can actually pretend you are in the mission capsule and have the mission view of what they’re seeing. You can look at Earth as if you’re looking out the window and you were in Artemis II without your hair floating in the sky. So I’ve been doing it, right? It’s unbelievable. I just want to say yay to our astronauts for being brave enough to go.
0:14:00
(Speaker 1)
And I don’t know if you heard the story, but one of the guys who’s an astronaut lost his wife. And he’s a single father of two kids now. And he named a crater on the moon for his wife to sort of symbolic to I love you to the moon and back. I mean, could you believe I’m just so beautiful. And there you go. All right.
0:14:20
(Speaker 1)
I’m moving on from the Artemis 2, but can’t wait to see the rest of the story, because it’s going pretty good. But I do want to tell you about what’s trending, which will lead me into the longevity scenarios that I was made aware of. that’s happening out there, very sophisticated science. There’s a magazine called Outside Online, which is a lot more interesting to read than Indoors Online, I think. You know, indoors, we’ve been there, like, for an entire winter. I want to go outside.
0:14:47
(Speaker 1)
And they’re talking about where health and wellness is heading in 2026, you know, technology, sleep tracking, social fitness. I invited a gal to be on the show. I’m going to get her. She was busy today. I met her on Amtrak. We were sitting in the same seat, and she is some genius sleep expert and how food affects your sleep and she’s like giving speeches all over the place and she’s got a French name and she was very polite and I thought well I shouldn’t I didn’t want to bother because she was working on the Amtrak when we took the same train to Boston but then I gave her an alert pop because she looked like she was passing out and she was like oh thank you
0:15:25
(Speaker 1)
so much. And I’m like, okay, Marie -Pierre St -Ange, that’s her name, Marie. And she’s very, very famous. And she is working, let me just get it straight, I think it’s Columbia University, among other places. And she’s an expert in cardio stuff, how sleep and circadian rhythms work together. She’s a she’s a director.
0:15:48
(Speaker 1)
Okay, let’s get this straight, Debbie, Center Director for the Center of Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Research. So smart. Anyway, she’ll be joining us. Just not today. All right. So let’s get back to what’s going on.
0:16:01
(Speaker 1)
Yes, Debbie, let’s get back to what’s going on 2026. All the things that are happening. Well, we’re shifting away as a whole culture from quick fixes, which is a shame because I kind of like that idea. I was always wish that I could wake up then because I did the exercise in my head, you know, and why should I have to like do it again? But yeah, we’re getting away from quick fixes and people are doing things differently. Okay, so neuro wellness and mental fitness would be the number one thing that they were pointing out is changing, you know, where mental health became more mainstream in the 2010s, but then neuro wellness started popping up late last year.
0:16:39
(Speaker 1)
Yeah, I’d never heard it. Did you? No, no, this is I’m fascinated. What’s this about? Yeah, I don’t know. That’s what I’m here to tell you.
0:16:46
(Speaker 1)
That’s what I’m hoping. I do, I do. Neuro wellness is the use of technology to manually regulate the nervous system. And it was the top thing that was among the leading wellness trends of 2026. And that was announced at the Global Wellness Summit late in January. So yeah, the most compelling trend, according to Outside Online, not Indoor Online, in neuro wellness is precision nervous system optimization.
0:17:16
(Speaker 1)
So what it is is the ability to objectively measure and really stress and resilience patterns in real time. I need some retraining. I have some patterns I need to get rid of that I can’t believe still exist in my life at this age. Well, what are you going to do then? I’m going to go see these people.
0:17:31
(Speaker 1)
Oh. I’m going to say hello. Desiree Eakin, who’s a doctor, told Outside she specializes in integrative medicine with a focus on mental wellness and nervous system regulation and performance optimization. She said, historically, they used to assess dysregulation through symptoms, anxiety, insomnia, irritability, burnout. And now they’re doing it differently. They’re quantifying it.
0:17:54
(Speaker 1)
Physiologically and neurologically, in other words, it’s no longer a guessing game. Burnout can actually be seen through data. I should think so. You’re looking at the charts and going, oh, this one’s burned out. For active people or high performers, professionals, this is sort of a shift from reactive care to proactive training, so how not to have your body react to certain scenarios, right? Yeah, kind of let it go.
0:18:24
(Speaker 1)
Yeah. With science? Well, because they’re saying, look, it’s in addition to physical recovery, you know, people do things like cold plunges or red light therapy or mobility work. They can start thinking about mental recovery, like cognitive rest cycles, like rest your brain, nervous system down, regulation protocols and brain. This is very important because people like me with ADHD, whose brains go, you know, flipping wild all day long. Like if somebody could slow that down, that’d be nice.
0:18:53
(Speaker 1)
Like, hello. just a little bit. Anyway, all this personalization, right? Everybody’s got their own problems. I joke with my friends, everybody’s got their own flavor of crazy. Isn’t that true?
0:19:07
(Speaker 1)
So yeah, they’re out there telling you that on the rise are personalized neurostimulation tailored to people’s psychological cycles, you know, like other cycles people have that manage the mood and the nervous system. And then what’s controversial is self -service mental health tools used for emotional support or therapy outside of the traditional therapy. I think they should have drive -through therapy, kind of like a McDonald’s. Yeah, but you’re wanting it to work too fast. I don’t know if it can work that fast.
0:19:37
(Speaker 1)
Well, you drive around again. That was a Saturday Night Live segment, by the way, and the last Saturday Night Live, did anybody see it this past Saturday? I think it was Jack White who was performing. Jack Black was the host. They actually did the Black and White show intentionally. So Jack White was working in a fast food restaurant.
0:20:00
(Speaker 1)
This was a skit. And these two nerdy girls in high school were trying to get him to go on like to the prom or to a dance with them. And they’re talking like, okay, it was so funny. Okay, we’re gonna drive around. And this is what I’m gonna say. And they would drive up and say all the wrong things.
0:20:12
(Speaker 1)
And then they go, and then drive away. And then they’d come around again. They did it about five or six times. But I think that’s how we should think about dispensing mental health because nobody has, you know, It’s hard to fit in doctor appointments in your everyday life, and especially when you need to go see a therapist. It’s like, okay, Thursday, gotta go. What if you just like drive through, get in line?
0:20:31
(Speaker 1)
do what you gotta say, what you have to say. If they don’t have the answer, you go, okay, I’ll get back in line, you know, back around the next time. All right, it’s just an idea. All right, let’s move on. Same topic, basically keeping the living alive here on Wellness Wednesday on the Debbie Nigro Show. Referring to something I read in Outside Online, which is a magazine that’s online now.
0:20:51
(Speaker 1)
And we’re talking about the 2026 top health and wellness trends. And they spoke of the next one being longevity and metabolic health. Okay, how to live longer is a question that I A lot of people are trying to figure out how to solve for themselves. And there are new things popping up every day. Every day. You can live longer.
0:21:08
(Speaker 1)
Come here. Do this. Eat this. Don’t eat that. Big stream of headlines around extending health span through things like nutrition and exercise and sleep and stress management. And what’s emerging this year according to this recap here from outside are metabolic health things, okay?
0:21:31
(Speaker 1)
Metabolic health, that’s a topic. And that’s how the body is properly digesting and absorbing nutrients from food. Now, do you think more about your food? Yes. You mean more than I used to? Yeah.
0:21:44
(Speaker 1)
Yeah, I’d say definitely. Me too. I’m like very proud of myself when I start my day with like a half an avocado versus a half a bagel. I’m consciously thinking about the food. There’s news out this week that if you’re somebody who gets sick a lot, and this is from today . com, that you should have more fiber.
0:22:07
(Speaker 1)
That’s what you’re missing, not vitamin C. I didn’t know that. Did you know that? No, I did not know that. Oh, the things you learn from this show. So in this longevity and metabolic health category, As medicine becomes more personalized, they’re saying things like biomarkers, which we were talking about before, these signs, right, medical signs that something could really go wrong down the road. You get a better understanding of the potential for you to have a risk and they see patterns, right?
0:22:39
(Speaker 1)
GLP1s, of course, in the news in this category, that’s the biggest trend in the longevity and metabolic health space, the GLP1s, because if you are in better shape, you will live longer, you will not die from complications of obesity. That has been very huge. And of course, the diabetic category, and that’s ginormous here in this country. So yeah, these strategies to help regulate your blood sugar and your appetite. But then you have some controversies with that too. they were first, you know, prescribed for diabetic patients to control their glucose levels.
0:23:12
(Speaker 1)
Now people are taking them for like all kinds of things, you know, general longevity, cosmetic fat loss, a lot of them without anybody in the medical community watching what they’re taking, which confuses… Yeah, how do you do that? You need to get a prescription. Doesn’t the doctor have to sign off on it? No, no, no, no, because there are a lot of companies, as I understand it, who have figured out how to create the compound that’s not, you know, against the trade. Somehow they figured their version of the compound that they can give you their own version of it.
0:23:41
(Speaker 1)
But you need to get this from somebody who knows about these kind of drugs because otherwise you’re going to find it. I have a good friend. I’m not going to say his name, but he knows who he is, who became addicted to the GLP, a particular drug, Depound, because he was losing so much weight. He didn’t want to stop. He was so scared to go off it that he would gain all the weight back. And because whatever he did, he ended up with a lot of stomach issues.
0:24:06
(Speaker 1)
He had to get off it anyway. He’s kind of in withdrawal now, going to all kinds of CAT scans and things. So, you know, to each his own. If you can, please get medical advisor and expert advice on anything new you’re willing to try. Get that first. It’ll probably serve you better.
0:24:22
(Speaker 1)
All right. I’ll tell you about that place I read about that’s doing crazy things. It’s called Fountain Life. Next generation preventative health model through advanced AI diagnostics. I thought this was incredible. Come on back.
0:24:38
(Speaker 1)
I’m Debbie Nigro. Good to be with you guys today. My gosh, one of my great life assets is the tambourine my Aunt Eleanor brought me back from Spain when I was maybe, I don’t know, eight? I still have it. And I wanted to let you know that I am a mean tambourine player. And anytime I get a chance to have fun with a live band, I always say, has anybody got a tambourine?
0:25:28
(Speaker 1)
It’s about all I can add to the lineup. I’m so jealous. I don’t play music on any instrument. It’s just frustrating. But to those of you who do, who understand the power of music and have the gift or have worked hard to do it, you are living a wonderful additional piece of life because music, it does bring people to life. So, okay, this is Wellness Wednesday.
0:25:49
(Speaker 1)
I’m Debbie Nigro and this is a show that I kind of coined the theme, keeping the live in alive, okay, because that dead part is so boring. Now, let’s talk about what’s happening in the longevity space with these locations that are promising that your best years lie ahead if you just come over here. One I read about is called Fountain Life, and I was blown away about what they’re doing there and who’s involved there, if you will. Here’s their credo. It says, at Fountain Life, we believe your best years lie ahead through our advanced annual diagnostics and proactive care. We can detect early Establish baselines and track your progress toward optimal health guided by world -class longevity physicians AI innovation and advanced therapeutics We empower you to feel perform and live your best every single day And I see Tony Robbins is involved here as one of the founders And there are a bunch of founding partners all who obviously have great credentials, but one woman I was reading about Wow
0:26:55
(Speaker 1)
she had a story. Her name is Dawn Mussalem. She’s the chief medical officer. And I looked her up because I couldn’t believe how she got involved and what her story was. Apparently, she’s a renowned Mayo Clinic breast medicine and hematology oncology consultant and lifestyle medicine leader. And she joined Fountain Life.
0:27:20
(Speaker 1)
um at the end of last year okay and her her job is to advance fountain life’s mission to deliver premium services and treatments to optimize health to the next level okay that’s to elevate people’s health spans not life spans health spans and they’re cutting edge stuff right um her own story is pretty crazy I believe she had a life -threatening stage 4 cancer as a young girl that she was able to survive, right? And then she got a heart transplant when she was a young girl. I mean, it’s a crazy backstory. And so I guess it fueled her professional mission to help everybody else. Yeah, she got stage 4 cancer three months into medical school. And then she had a life -restoring heart transplant.
0:28:13
(Speaker 1)
I think it was 2021. And believe it or not, she did something that nobody else in the world has ever done. She became the first person in the world to run a full marathon one year after a heart transplant. Yeah. So, you know, that’s kind of like show by example, you know, how people recover and can regenerate and get back to peak performance. And she said, that’s what she teaches.
0:28:38
(Speaker 1)
So very distinguished woman. career in teaching and she, you know, joined forces. But how do they explain Jim Fix? The guy who died after running and had been running all his life. He probably had an underlying something that nobody caught because he didn’t go to this place, Fountain Life.
0:28:58
(Speaker 1)
They might have caught it. Didn’t exist then. The things that are happening in the world. All right. Anyway, I just wanted to give her a shout out She sounded fascinating to me. Let’s go back to more the trends happening in 2026, you know with the wellness and health this is outside online to the top 2026 helm help health and wellness Trends if you put those two words together be hellness trends.
0:29:22
(Speaker 1)
I don’t think that’s what they meant Okay, let’s say a sleep to optimization now. I spoke about my sleep gal who was nodding out on the Amtrak next to me. She was preparing for her big presentations. And I actually didn’t bother her because I knew she was intense in writing and then we chatted a little bit and I loved her. She’s very soft and sweet and smart. And I saw her nod and I said, hey, you should try one of my new products.
0:29:47
(Speaker 1)
Sleep. You can’t fall asleep. You got to do this. She goes, oh, I really like it. I said, you need to be a spokesperson for her, little pup. You know, Alert Pops are very gentle.
0:29:57
(Speaker 1)
People should know it’s not like having a cup of coffee. No, because it gets into your… it’s a different kind of delivery method. If you’re just tuning in and you don’t know what we’re talking about or what I’m talking about, I’ve spent a year undercover launching a product that is just launched in the last month and change called Alert Pops. I didn’t invent it, I wish I did, but I’m proud to be associated with the genius inventor and dad who invented this alert pop, which is a sugar -free caffeinated lollipop, the world’s first sugar -free caffeinated lollipop, out of a need to address drowsy driving when his daughter, who is a college girl, shared a terrible story of her friend crashing the car and living to tell about it. And he woke up with, you know, in his head, alert pop, two words, wrote it down, and the rest is history, right? so we have a lot of action going on with this and I’m always happy to tell people about it because I’m proud that there’s something exists it’s a better for you energy idea right when you’re trying to get a little lift you don’t want to blow your adrenal glands out with all kinds of caffeine this is a half a cup and each lollipop but we’re also making drops and you know the strips like Listerine strips Oh, because not everybody wants to hold lollipop.
0:31:11
(Speaker 1)
Yeah, but but I’ll tell you something interesting that Stephen discovered because he drives long distances with his dogs and his wife. They you know, 18 hours at a time. I don’t know where they’re thinking about but you know, how many cups of coffee can you have when you’re driving? Yes. And in general, how many cups of coffee can you have during the day? Yeah, you know, I worry about Ajita.
0:31:28
(Speaker 1)
He’s worried about you know, like, Oh, God. So he was chewing on a stick. From Starbucks hmm because he didn’t want to stop for another cup of coffee yet And then he was realizing he went like another three hours from the oral stimulation of something in his mouth interesting Yeah, that’s how he put the idea together. He actually stopped at Starbucks and bought 20 sticks Thinking okay, maybe this maybe I’m on to something and drove the rest of the way with the sticks Just chewing on them, and that’s where he came up with alert pop the combination, but yeah I don’t know how I got off on that, but yeah, sorry I did that I think no that’s okay because Everybody’s trying to you know stay alert at certain times when they need to and there’s a lot of options out there I mean the energy market caffeine market is off the charts. So this is a better for you you know, gentle lift idea that gets into your bloodstream faster because of the sucking of the lollipop thing. What was your favorite flavor?
0:32:19
(Speaker 1)
Espresso, watermelon, or blue raspberry? I haven’t tried the espresso yet, but the others I’ve tried, and I loved them both. Okay, I got more for you in my pocketbook. And nobody can believe I still call it a pocketbook, all right? That’s so old school, my goodness. Sleep optimization.
0:32:33
(Speaker 1)
The focus on sleep health these days has a lot to do with long -term health outcomes, everything. It’s not the same. oh, good, I slept. It matters for everything that happens with your body, okay? I’ve never worn a wearable to sleep to see how I sleep. I’m gonna do that.
0:32:48
(Speaker 1)
That’s on my bucket list. Have you? What do you mean by a wearable? Like, you know, an aura ring or a watch that tracks your sleep. Oh, no. I haven’t done that.
0:32:55
(Speaker 1)
See how you’re doing. Yeah. I’d like to know. I don’t know, because I’m unconscious. That also. Well, that’s good, though.
0:33:02
(Speaker 1)
That means you’re asleep. Well, I wake up, and then I go back to sleep. I still can’t believe humans go unconscious for a portion of their existence. Think about it. We just go unconscious. All mammals.
0:33:13
(Speaker 1)
We go unconscious. I mean, we take it for granted, like, oh, you’re up? You’re sleeping? Oh, sorry, I woke you. Some non -mammals do. You’re sleeping?
0:33:18
(Speaker 1)
I’m going to bed early. Okay, sleeping. You’re going unconscious. I mean, let’s think about that, Bobby, and now let’s move on. Yeah, the things that monitor your sleep, you know, body temperature, your sleep stage, your hormonal rhythms, you know, these are sleep biomarkers, okay? So there are a lot of gadgets out there, promising to help you out, but I don’t think there’s a lot of research about some of the things that say they’re going to help you sleep.
0:33:48
(Speaker 1)
You know, some people sleep better in the cold. How about that story that the Norwegians told me that I met on vacation at the pool? I don’t remember the story. Oh, I’ll tell you the story. So I met this Norwegian couple. And I think I asked, oh, I know, because I started the conversation when I was talking about that, friljusiv, that new thing I was going to do.
0:34:06
(Speaker 1)
Oh, I see. Friljusiv, it’s what the Norwegians do, which is they walk in the cold weather, they get out there, they’re not big babies like us, me in particular. And I said, I’m going to be more like the Norwegians. So I meet these lovely two people in Florida, of all places, where Norwegians are hiding. And I said to them. That’s strange.
0:34:26
(Speaker 1)
Well, they were there for a while. someone’s father had passed, they had to settle the estate. They were going back. But we got to talking about the weather. and the free sleep. I was asking by pronouncing it correctly.
0:34:39
(Speaker 1)
And they told me a story about babies and how couples in Norway take baby carriages in the freezing cold. And when they go out like for a coffee or dinner, they park the baby carriage outside. They leave it outside the restaurant so the baby is in the cold because babies sleep better in cold. I go, nobody steals the babies. They’re like, no, not in Norway. I go, well, that’s impressive.
0:35:00
(Speaker 1)
Then they told me that some people from Norway had come to like New York and tried that and people are gonna get called the police you know because like who leaves a baby but it’s all about the sleep and the temperature. Babies sleep better in the cold. I think everybody does when they’re cozy and not too hot. All right, another trend. Bob, give me a little transition music. Okay.
0:35:21
(Speaker 1)
Okay. Real life wellness and community at an all -time high. I think clubs are at an all -time high right now. This new thing where people are meeting each other for a date. They go to a date at a health club. It’s a workout date.
0:35:34
(Speaker 1)
Did you see this? Have you heard about this trend? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it’s interesting. Run clubs are big.
0:35:42
(Speaker 1)
If you look at the running clubs, I wish I could run. I see people running, I go, oh, look at you. I never liked to run, but I would like to run now, even though I didn’t like it then, but I can’t, because I can’t run. Because who could run at my age? Where am I going? My knees are not happy with me running, so no, I’m not running either.
0:36:01
(Speaker 1)
People who run marathons, I’m like, oh my gosh, you’re so impressive. I just try and hustle. It is pretty impressive to run a marathon. I walk fast. I can walk fast, but the running never gets me. I just never did it. It never appealed to me. I couldn’t do it.
0:36:14
(Speaker 1)
I don’t know why. Big shift from the alcohol -centered socializing to connection -driven wellness. So that is loud. And also because most people who do like something for their health or fitness, they do it alone. And after a while, it’s like, really?
0:36:33
(Speaker 1)
So they have a club in New York City they talked about in this article called The Maze, which is New York City’s first alcohol -free members club. They were saying, you know, people worked out alone, practice mindfulness alone and gathered in environments where depth of conversation wasn’t necessarily the priority, right? You’re like, hey, nice, nice shorts, whatever. This connection driven wellness is reversing that. So people are becoming more social. And it’s kind of what they’re saying where health and culture and community intersect.
0:37:07
(Speaker 1)
I like it. I like it a lot. And they’re gonna see that trend rise, you know, into like, little micro communities, you know, shared spaces for movement and education and connection. People are looking for this, okay? But, you know, sometimes the memberships are expensive, which is the places that, you know, like, oh, trying to exploit this idea. But there are plenty of affordable ways you can do this, okay?
0:37:30
(Speaker 1)
Be creative. The last thing I’ll come back and talk about is something that I’d have to address are the viral social media nutrition hacks. that are sticking around and you might want to know about them like the Chipotle Bowl Hack. I’ll have that for you next from Outside Online here on the air on the Debbie Nygro Show. All right, keeping the living alive here on the Debbie Nygro Show. It’s Wellness Wednesday, last segment of the show.
0:38:16
(Speaker 1)
I want to talk about those viral social media nutrition hacks that you may or may not have heard about, okay, like the Chipotle Bowl Hack. You know what that is? It’s making a way I’ve Well, it’s got some calories there, but it’s better than, I guess, fast food, and they just want you to know, expect to pay double, okay? Another hack, daily apple cider vinegar shot. I like the idea, I just haven’t been doing it because I don’t really like the idea.
0:38:50
(Speaker 1)
Anyway, you’re supposed to have an unfiltered apple cider vinegar shot every morning. taken straight or diluted with water and supposedly helps you with digestion and bloating and blood sugar and appetite suppression and give you a metabolism boost. The downfall, they said the acid in the apple cider vinegar may erode your teeth. Upside, downside, oh my gosh. Fiber maxing, okay, straightforward. You’re supposed to maximize your fiber but you can’t have too much because then it’ll get all the stuff out of your system too much, you won’t have any nutrients.
0:39:20
(Speaker 1)
I don’t know. You don’t have too much. Same with the water stacking. You can’t have too much, you know, like, okay, drink a little water all day long, add other things in it all you want, just not too much because there’s actually a thing that happens sometimes called hyponatremia. not something you’ll discuss on a regular basis over whatever, hyponatremia, which is dangerous and often, not often, but sometimes fatal when sodium levels in your blood become severely diluted. So, you know, you got to watch out for that too much water thing.
0:39:52
(Speaker 1)
Anyway, this story gave me a lot to talk about today and I want to do a very big shout out to the writer for Outside Magazine Online who made this so interesting, Emily Koblentz. Thank you so much. Just put this out this past month. and the top 2026 health and wellness trends I thought you guys should know about and I learned too. That’s what we do together, sharing information. Hopefully you came away with a nugget of something that helped you in some way on the show today or at least you did.
0:40:20
(Speaker 1)
than I did. All right, so that’s it. I do this thing called the Daily Toast. That’s how I end the show. There we go, Bobby. Let’s do it.
0:40:29
(Speaker 1)
Attention, everyone. It’s the Daily Toast on the Debbie Nigro Show. All right, I’m sending you off today with a quote from Roy T. Bennett, who said, if you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past. Do not worry about the future. Focus on living fully in the present. That’s why the present what is called the present because it’s a present.
0:40:50
(Speaker 1)
Hello. All right. See you guys next time. Thanks for tuning into WGCH 1490 on the dial. WGCH . com is a digital live stream.
0:41:00
(Speaker 1)
My website is DebbieNigro . com. I’m on Instagram at the real Debbie Nigro if you want to follow over there. Facebook the Debbie Nigro show and I’m on LinkedIn as well as me and you know, feel free to connect. Okay. Have a great rest of your day.
