Why does trust enhance our sense of wellbeing? Dr. Sanam Hafeez, a neuropsychologist and director of Comprehend the Mind, explained that the study discovered people who feel they can rely on others, whether in close relationships or in broader social systems, experience less stress, better emotional regulation, and a greater feeling of security in the world.

"All of these contribute not only to mental health but also to physical health," she stated. "A lack of trust causes people to experience more loneliness, hypervigilance, or anxiety, and over the long term, chronic stress activates the body's stress system. Studies have already linked chronic stress to inflammation, heart disease, decreased immune function, and even cognitive decline."

Conversely, the ability to trust others can offer a degree of protection. It reduces cortisol levels and helps sustain healthy long-term behaviors – such as an active social life, seeking medical attention in time, and maintaining healthy routines, Hafeez explained. "Trust isn't just a pleasant emotion, it's a powerful psychological resource," she added. "When you cultivate it throughout life, it may contribute to both emotional resilience and longevity."

The research also found that the most crucial kind of trust is interpersonal trust, which is present in close ties with family and friends, and has the greatest effect on a sense of wellbeing. "In the clinic, one of the strongest protective factors in a patient's recovery process is a positive and strong social support system – and this is exactly what the research reinforces," said Dr. Patrice LeGaux, a marriage and family therapist.

LeGaux noted that trust becomes particularly vital in old age, when dependence on others increases. "When you have positive relationships with a stable foundation of trust, you also have higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction."

How can we boost our trust in other people? Even if the benefits of trust are clear, it's not always easy, especially when it has been violated in the past. Nonetheless, mental health experts explained that there are practical methods to begin rebuilding it.

Start small

According to the study, experience and environment influence trust. Dr. Cynthia Viar, a mental health counseling lecturer, explained that the process of building trust starts with small, everyday moments. For example, a person who struggles to trust can observe that colleagues arrive on time, keep their word, and collaborate. "That kind of observation can be reassuring and open the door to deeper, more meaningful interactions," she said. Hafeez recommended paying attention to how people behave consistently. "Do their actions align with their words? Do they listen without judgment? Do they respect your boundaries? Trust grows when behavior is consistent, even in small things."

Understand the risk involved

Increasing trust means taking small, calculated risks, said Dr. Hannah Holmes, a clinical psychologist. "There's always a possibility that people will disappoint us, particularly if it has already happened before, and that causes real fear."

Change your perspective

Trust requires a conscious shift in thought patterns and continuous monitoring of one's mood, explained Dr. Tori Broms. "Our general feeling affects how we see the world. When we are positive and balanced, we are more trusting, and when we are frustrated or pessimistic, we tend to be suspicious."

Examine the source of the difficulty

According to LeGaux, there is usually a good reason why we find it hard to trust. "The first step is to recognize this and legitimize it, to understand why we behave this way. Only then can we ensure that past injuries aren't present in new relationships." She said she asks patients, "Does this pain belong to the current relationship?" – a question that makes it possible to understand that you can be safe now, even if that was not the case in the past. "The real work is learning to trust ourselves, so we will know how to identify when a person in front of us is indeed trustworthy."

Stay in the moment

Hafeez emphasized the importance of being in the present. Don't assume that a new person will behave like someone from the past. "It requires awareness and patience, but it's possible. And it's also important to strengthen emotional boundaries. When we know we can say 'no,' move away, or protect ourselves, it's easier for us to give others a chance."

Give people a chance to prove themselves

Holmes suggested offering small opportunities that allow others to demonstrate trustworthiness, whether it's telling an embarrassing story or delegating a small task to someone else. "Trust is built slowly, and that's okay."

How do you balance trust and caution? LeGaux explained that trust is like a muscle – you need to exercise it. This includes trusting ourselves and our intuition. Instead of trusting blindly or automatically suspecting, Broms suggested practicing "realistic trust building." This involves checking if the person keeps promises, if their behavior is consistent, and if they know how to respect boundaries. Viar added that it is worthwhile to distinguish between "good judgment" and "cynicism." Both involve caution, but cynicism blocks the possibility of trust, while good judgment allows you to remain open to new information.

The post How to live longer? A simple trait may be the answer appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

US gymnast Simone Biles, who amazed the world on Tuesday when she decided to pull out of the team all-around competition on Tuesday due to mental strain, costing the US team a gold medal, has decided to forgo the final individual all-around event, she announced Wednesday.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

USA Gymnastics published a message on Twitter explaining that "After further medical evaluation, Simon Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition. We wholeheartedly support Simone's decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being."

Biles will be replaced by Jade Carey, who placed ninth in the qualifications.

International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams had said earlier on Wednesday the IOC has "huge respect and support" for Biles.

Adams said mental health remained a big issue and that it was a matter the organization had been working on for some time.

IOC President Thomas Bach was seen in deep conversation with Biles on the floor of the Ariake Gymnastics Centre on Tuesday before handing out medals.

Biles was to appear in all six gymnastics event finals and a sweep of the gold medals would have given her 10, making her the most accomplished woman Olympian in any sport.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Gymnast Simone Biles withdraws from 2nd Olympic event appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The northern Israel community of Harish is abuzz, just before school breaks up for summer vacation after an elementary school teacher reportedly told his fifth-grade class last Thursday, "I'll kill you all, then commit suicide."

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The teacher involved in the scandal was brought in as a substitute after one of the school's teachers went on maternity leave. According to a report by Channel 12 News, the teacher was speaking in response to one student leaving the classroom in a huff, telling him, "Everyone hates you, I hope you die."

After the incident was discussed in a Whatsapp group for school parents on Saturday night, based on accounts by a few students in the class, a member of the parent-teacher association contacted the principal and informed her about what had taken place. On Monday morning, a group of parents arrived at the school, demanding that the teacher be removed from his post and the premises immediately, and even filed a police complaint.

The principal and vice-principal were subsequently questioned.

Later on Monday, the principal began looking into the incident and took the teacher aside for a conversation, in which the school counselor participated. At first, the teacher denied the allegations, but then said, "I don't remember if I said it as a joke, and if so – I take responsibility. I have nothing to say in my defense."

According to Channel 12 News, the teacher is a retired member of the security forces who carries a licensed weapon, which was confiscated following the police complaint filed by the parents.

He was questioned by the פolice, following which the police reached out the Hadera Magistrates, Court to ask that he be remanded, but Judge Ehud Kaplan ruled that he should be released immediately since he had not contacted any of the students in his class in the last seven days.

"At the time he said what he did, they could definitely be seen as a threat, if indeed they were said at all, and that is a big question. None of the people present saw any criminal incident that justifies police interference. I have not found any grounds to remand him on grounds that he presents a danger. This is probably a case of things that were said during an argument or in a moment of anger – if they were said at all," Kaplan wrote.

The Education Ministry issued a statement saying, "These are extremely serious utterances that have no place in any society at all, and certainly not from an educator entrusted with inculcating values of tolerance, giving, and mutual responsibility. Given the seriousness of the comments, the issue has been transferred for disciplinary action and police investigation. At the same time, the teacher has been removed from the classroom."

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post 'I'll kill you all, then commit suicide,' teacher tells 5th-grade class appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Chronic stress could be one of the most prevalent conditions of our time. In the short term, stress causes our jaws or stomachs may clench; in the long term, stress can lead to metabolic disease and speed up diseases of aging, as well as leading to more serious psychological disorders.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The physical manifestations of stress originate in the brain, and they move along a so-called "stress axis" that ends in the adrenal glands. These glands then produce the hormone cortisol. When the stress axis is continually activated, changes occur in the cells and organs along the way, and the continual production of cortisol then substantially contribute the symptoms of chronic stress.

The stress response axis starts with the hypothalamus in the brain, moves through the pituitary right next to the brain and then on to the adrenal glands near the kidneys. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Germany used new technology to view the entire stress axis as it has never before been seen. Their findings, published in the journal Science Advances, may be relevant to a number of stress-related diseases from anxiety and depression to metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

The new study, led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Juan Pablo Lopez in the joint neurobiology lab of Prof. Alon Chen at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, made use of a relatively new technique that allows researchers to identify differences across all cell types in a tissue.

This method could be compared to identifying the individual fruits in a bowl of fruit salad rather than turning that fruit salad into a smoothie and then trying to identify the average characteristics of all the fruits together. But in this case, the task was more complex than separating the apples from oranges: Lopez and the team mapped the entire length of the stress axis, checking the activities of numerous single cells all along the route.

The researchers conducted this analysis on two sets of mice – one unstressed and one exposed to chronic stress.
In total, the team mapped 21,723 cells along the three points in that axis, and they compared their findings from the two sets of mice. They noted that as the stress message moved from one organ to the next, the gene expression in the cells and the tissues themselves underwent greater changes. The team found 66 genes that were altered between normal and stressed mice in the hypothalamus, 692 in the pituitaries and a whopping 922 in the adrenals. The adrenals are glands that can change their size visibly under chronic stress exposure, and it was here that the researchers noted the most significant alterations among the various cells.

The unprecedented resolution of the technique enabled the researchers to identify, for the first time, a subpopulation of adrenal cells that may play a crucial role in the stress response and adaptation. These were endocrine cells sitting in the outer layer, or adrenal cortex. Among other things, the team identified a gene, known as Abcb1b, and found it to be overexpressed in these cells under stress situations. This gene encodes a pump in the cell membrane that expels substances from the cell, and the scientists think it plays a role in the release of cortisol. "If extra stress hormones are created, the cell needs extra release valves to let those hormones go," says Lopez.

 Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Are the findings in mice relevant to humans? In collaboration with researchers in university-based hospitals in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the US, the scientists obtained adrenal glands that had been removed from patients to relieve the symptoms of Cushing's disease. Though the disease is the result of a growth on the pituitary, the result can be identical to chronic stress – weight gain and metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure and depression or irritability – so in some cases it is treated by removing the adrenal glands, thereby reducing the patients' stress hormone load. Indeed, the cells in these patients' adrenals presented a similar picture to those of the mice in the chronic stress group.

The gene they had identified, Abcb1, was known to the researchers from previous studies into the genetics of depression. It had been found that this gene is polymorphic – it has several variants – and that at least one version is tied to a higher risk for depression. The group analyzed the expression of this variant in blood tests taken from a group of subjects who suffer from depression and who were subjected to temporary stress. They found that certain indeed affect the ways the adrenal glands deal with stress signals coming down the axis.

Chronic stress, of course, can ultimately affect every part of the body and open the door to numerous health issues. The new study, because it looks at the entire axis, on the one hand, and has mapped it down to the gene expression pattern of its individual cells, on the other, should provide a wealth of new information and insight into the mechanisms behind the stress axis.

"Most research in this field has focused on chronic stress patterns in the brain," says Chen. "In addition to presenting a possible new target for treating the diseases that arise from chronic stress, the findings of this study will open new directions for future research."

The post Israeli, German researchers map 'stress axis' at the cellular level appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Now an Israeli food tech startup is stepping in with a solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help personalize nutrition.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The team at myAir, founded in 2019, has developed a patent-pending algorithm based on physiological and psychological data. Users fill out an online questionnaire that helps the algorithm profile their cognitive response to stress, while physiological responses to stress, including alterations in heart rate, respiration, sleep quality, and physical activity, are tracked through smart watches.

The company's algorithm processes this data, then customizes a combination of myAir snack bars to your needs from a wide range of formulas. The personalized combinations are available through a subscription service and delivered monthly to the consumer's doorstep.

The bars, which are vegan, kosher, and gluten-free, are composed of a blend of nuts and fruits, and infused with a research-based proprietary formula of bioactive botanical extracts. These include extracts from sage, hops, oats, valerian, rosemary, among other plants. myAir says the botanical extracts work together to counter stress.

"Our algorithm can analyze the data from each person's specific mood and stress profile, then decide what formulation will provide them the best positive impact on their stress routine," explains myAir co-founder and co-CEO Rachel Yarcony.

"But our expertise is in the ability to cross the cognitive data with individual physiological aspects, Yarcony says.

"As an executive manager and a mother, stress had become a massive burden in my life. I tried to manage my stress through meditation and mindfulness, but I failed to maintain stress management in my routine," Yarcony explains.

"Good nutrition is a key to managing stress naturally. This spurred me to seek a natural solution and develop a 'food for mood' solution that consumers can easily merge into their daily routine to help take control of their health and manage their personal stress levels," she adds.

According to co-CEO Dovev Goldstein, the company's preliminary study found that different consumers generally have different stress symptoms that are more dominant than the others. For example, stress affects me mainly in the mornings, so my energy levels and focus are decreased. My partner feels the stress at night and occasionally has problems getting fulfilling sleep. Each of us needs a personalized solution. This is where myAir has redefined the paradigm."

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Food tech startup tackles stress through snacks appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.