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- The Health Review - Why 2026 Might Be the Year We Slow Down
The Health Review - Why 2026 Might Be the Year We Slow Down
Happy New Year 🤍
I hope you had a wonderful festive break with plenty of rest, good food and connection.
I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time somewhere warm and beautiful over the break, which gave me a chance to properly switch off. That space gave me time to reflect and plan what’s next for The Health Review. I’ve got lots of new ideas taking shape and some really exciting guests lined up, covering topics like nervous system regulation, detoxing and women’s health — all areas that feel especially relevant as we head into a new year.
If you’re using the start of 2026 to reset or refocus your health goals, I hope this newsletter can be part of that with you. I’m so grateful you’re here and really excited to explore what this year brings!
Anyway, onto this week’s health news — lots of interesting studies, trends and discoveries to get into…
This week’s edition covers:
Health News: UK supermarket launches food line for GLP1 users, record numbers take part in dry Jan and new therapy to help heal aging guts.
Feature: Why nervous system regulation is one of the biggest health shifts heading Into 2026.
This Week on The Health Review podcast: 🎧 The Biggest Wellness Trends of 2025 — and Predictions for 2026.
Thanks so much for reading — and as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Emily x
Top Health News
🍽️ UK Supermarket, M&S Launches Nutrient-Dense Food for Weight-Loss Jab Users
Marks & Spencer has stepped into the evolving world of health and nutrition with a brand-new “Nutrient Dense” range of meals and snacks designed for people using weight-loss injections like GLP-1 drugs. Because these medications suppress appetite, many users find themselves eating smaller portions — which can make meeting daily recommendations for vitamins, minerals and fibre harder. The new range includes items such as salads, seeded breads, yoghurt bowls and even botanical-infused shots, all crafted to pack more nutrition into fewer calories.
🥂 Record Numbers in the UK Plan a Dry January in 2026
As 2026 begins, a remarkable cultural shift around alcohol is taking shape in the UK. New research reveals that over 17 million adults — nearly one in three — were planning a full month without alcohol in January, as part of the annual Dry January challenge. Motivation spans from improving sleep, fitness and mental wellbeing to saving money and reassessing long-term drinking habits.
🍽️ New Research Shows Aging Guts May Heal Themselves
Scientists have uncovered an exciting potential strategy for supporting gut health as we age. Research from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory suggests that a cancer-fighting immune therapy (CAR T-cell therapy) can be repurposed to help aging intestines heal themselves by targeting and clearing out senescent cells that accumulate with age. In animal models, this approach boosted regeneration of the gut lining, reduced chronic inflammation, improved nutrient absorption, and even protected against radiation damage — with benefits lasting up to a year.
🐴 Equine Therapy Goes Mainstream in Wellness Spaces
Once a niche treatment primarily associated with veterans and clinical trauma care, equine-assisted therapy is now gaining traction as a broader wellness resource, especially in luxury retreat settings and among younger wellness seekers. The therapy involves structured interactions with horses — not just riding, but ground-based activities — which practitioners say can help participants regulate emotions, build self-awareness and cope with stress in ways traditional talk therapy sometimes doesn’t. In the UK, bookings for equine therapy have surged, and high-end hotels are incorporating horse-related experiences into their wellness offerings alongside forest bathing, massage and breathwork.
🏃♂️ 2026 Dating Trend: Finding Love Through Movement & Sport
Forget endless swiping — a new dating trend is emerging in 2026: sports and physical activity as a way to meet people and build connections. Recent research from dating platforms and lifestyle commentators shows that organised movement — from run clubs and group fitness classes to tennis, pickleball and community sports — is becoming a popular arena for singles to connect. Events that merge socialising with activity naturally foster interaction, shared experiences and dopamine-boosting engagement, making them appealing alternatives to traditional online dating.
🧠 Why nervous system regulation changed everything for me last year— and why it’s one of the biggest health shifts heading into 2026
For a long time, I thought I was doing everything “right” for my health.
I exercised regularly. I ate well. I slept as much as my schedule allowed. I took the supplements. I was disciplined and career driven. And yet, for years, I still lived with a baseline level of anxiety, tiredness and overstimulation that never quite lifted.
It wasn’t until 2025 that something really clicked for me: you can do all the right things for your health and still have an overwhelmed nervous system.
In 2025, my pace of life changed. I pulled away from full-time TV news work, early alarm clocks and constant urgency. My schedule got quieter. I spent more time walking alone in the park, reflecting, meditating, and breathing. And slowly — almost without trying — my nervous system began to settle.
The shift has been transformational.
As I started feeling safer in my body, I noticed something unexpected: I was showing up more authentically. I felt more connected to myself. I understood who I was on a deeper level. Ironically, this came alongside a realisation that 2025 was my most successful year to date — not because of career or financial reasons, but because of the emotional and personal growth I experienced. For so long, I’d associated slowing down with falling behind or not achieving enough. Now I see it very differently.
The Science Behind Why This Matters
What I experienced personally is increasingly backed by science.
Chronic stress and constant stimulation keep the nervous system locked in a fight-or-flight state, even when the basics — diet, exercise, sleep — are in place. Over time, this state is linked to anxiety, low mood, inflammation, gut issues and burnout.
Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman has said that “most mental health issues are really issues of nervous system state.” When the body doesn’t feel safe, it doesn’t matter how “healthy” your habits look on the surface.
Trauma researcher Stephen Porges, who developed Polyvagal Theory, explains it simply: the nervous system is constantly asking “am I safe?” When the answer is yes, the body can rest, digest, connect and repair. When it’s no, everything feels harder.
This helps explain why nervous-system regulation has become one of the most important — and talked-about — wellness themes going into 2026. People aren’t trying to optimise anymore. They’re trying to switch off.
What Actually Made the Difference for Me
There wasn’t one big intervention — it was a series of gentle shifts that compounded over months.
Breathwork, especially the physiological sigh, became a way to quickly signal safety to my body.
Long solo walks in the park, often without headphones, gave me space for reflection and unexpected realisations.
Sauna sessions, several times a week, helped my body move out of stress mode and into deep rest.
Talking more openly — with friends, with myself. Prioritising social connection has been proven to improve stress levels and large-scale data suggests that loneliness carries a health risk comparable to smoking or physical inactivity.
Exercise & stress
One thing I’ve noticed on this — both personally and in the wider wellness conversation — is a quiet shift in how people are relating to exercise.
For years, movement was framed primarily as a way to burn calories, get stronger or release endorphins. But emerging research suggests that how we move matters just as much as how often. High-intensity exercise can be incredibly beneficial, but when layered on top of chronic stress, it can sometimes add to nervous system load rather than relieve it.
Studies have shown that gentler forms of movement — like walking, mobility work, strength training at a moderate intensity, and time outdoors — can support parasympathetic activity and improve mood regulation, especially for people already living under sustained pressure. This has certainly helped me in recent months, and may help explain why walking clubs, hiking groups and lower-intensity fitness trends have surged over the past year.
Looking Ahead to 2026
If there’s one thing I hope people take from this, it’s this: change usually happens gradually, often when you least expect it.
I wasn’t trying to fix myself in 2025. I simply slowed down. And over time, I had small epiphanies — every few months — that some of my new habits were quietly changing things.
And going into 2026, I’m showing up differently now. Feeling calmer, more connected and enjoying a slower pace of life.
If you’re reading this and feeling stuck, overwhelmed or overstimulated, I hope this offers some reassurance: it can change — if you give yourself the time and space to let it.
This Week on The Health Review Podcast:
The Biggest Wellness Trends of 2025 — and Predictions for 2026
What really defined wellness in 2025 — and what’s actually worth carrying forward into 2026?
In this second part of our end-of-year health and wellness roundup, I’m joined by health coach and speaker Vanessa Sturman to unpack the biggest wellness shifts of the past year — from the rise of biohacking studios and body scanners to the growing focus on nervous-system regulation, gentler movement, nature-based health and recovery.
We talk about the wellness products and technologies that genuinely stood out, why retreat culture and luxury wellness travel exploded, and how tools like wearables, red light therapy and sauna became mainstream. We also explore some of the more complex conversations of 2025 — including AI therapy and where the line sits between helpful innovation and too much optimisation. As we look ahead to 2026, Vanessa shares her thoughts on which wellness trends feel meaningful, which might fade away, and the ideas she’s most excited to watch.
🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or watch on YouTube.
If you love the episodes, please do subscribe and give the show a rating! 😊