Meryl Davids Landau

Boca Raton, United States

Writer and Editor at Freelance

Author of IPPY-award-winning mindfulness/yoga novel Warrior Won. Longtime magazine and web science, health & climate writer.

Articles

How to Tell How Healthy You Are, According to Doctors

4 days ago | prevention.com | Meryl Davids Landau

You service your car every 5,000 miles or so, but perhaps like many others you pay attention to the needs of your body only when bits and pieces start breaking down. As a reader of this magazine, you clearly know that’s a mistake. Preventive measures now will pay off with better living down the road, says Matthew Motisi, D.O., an orthopedic surgeon at Baptist Health Orthopedic Care in Miami.
Why you shouldn't ignore lentils and peas-protein-packed superfoods

1 week ago | brnw.ch | Meryl Davids Landau

Beans hog the nutritional spotlight in the kitchen and on TikTok, but their fellow legumes lentils and peas pack high nutritional punches, too. These foods are so full of protein, fiber, and antioxidants that the American diet should be brimming with them, according to a recent report by the U.S. government’s 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Various legumes are staples in Indian, Middle Eastern, and other cuisines but rare in classic American fare.
Why you shouldn't ignore lentils and peas-protein-packed superfoods

3 weeks ago | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

Beans hog the nutritional spotlight in the kitchen and on TikTok, but their fellow legumes lentils and peas pack high nutritional punches, too. These foods are so full of protein, fiber, and antioxidants that the American diet should be brimming with them, according to a recent report by the U.S. government’s 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Various legumes are staples in Indian, Middle Eastern, and other cuisines but rare in classic American fare.
Are These Cholesterol Myths Harming Your Health?

3 weeks ago | preventionaus.com.au | Meryl Davids Landau

Social media is abuzz with bewildering (and even worrisome) theories about cholesterol and the medications used to lower it. We sort out what’s truth, what’s error, and what’s conspiracy to help you keep your heart healthy and strong. If your doctor has reported that your cholesterol is too high, join the club. About 8.4% of Australian (approximately 2.1 million) self-reported having high cholesterol in 2022, which has increased from 6.8% in 2011–12.
Cholesterol Conspiracies Cardiologists Want You to Stop Believing—and Facts Worth Knowing

3 weeks ago | prevention.com | Meryl Davids Landau

Social media is abuzz with bewildering (and even worrisome) theories about cholesterol and the medications used to lower it. We sort out what’s truth, what’s error, and what’s conspiracy to help you keep your heart healthy and strong. If your doctor has reported that your cholesterol is too high, join the club. About a third of American adults—some 86 million of us—have levels that are higher than ideal. The same goes for 7% of U.S. kids.
Should you get a measles booster? Here's how to protect yourself amid the recent outbreaks.

2 months ago | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

Despite being declared eliminated in the U.S. a quarter century ago, measles has infected 146 people in northwest Texas in the past two months, killing one child. Other smaller outbreaks are happening in New Mexico, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and other states. Most of the cases are in children, but more than two dozen of the Texas patients are adults. What most infected individuals have in common is that the vast majority were not protected by the measles vaccine.
Winter brings more air pollution inside. Here’s how to minimize your risks.

2 months ago | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

Most of us associate air pollution with the outdoors—from car or bus exhaust in a city to industrial waste or wildfire smoke. But you may not realize the air inside your home can be even more contaminated, especially in winter. Since home is where we spend some 70 percent of our time—more if you’re one of the 35 percent of workers who do some or all business from there—these toxins can have an outsized impact on your health.
How bad is sugar for kids’ health? Here’s what the science says

Feb 6, 2025 | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

Parents have long known too much sugar can harm their child’s health, but a growing body of research reveals just how much damage it can do. A recent study in the journal Science found the dangers continue well into adulthood, with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes more common in adults who were exposed to increased added sugars early in life. The results of this study and others make clear the sweet spot for sugar is well below what many kids currently consume.
Here's the role climate change played in the L.A. wildfires

Jan 28, 2025 | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

As the Palisades and Eaton wildfires still blaze in Los Angeles, exactly what kindled the fires remains a mystery. But one fact is clear: Climate change made the conditions that drove the devastating fires some 35 percent more likely than they would have been had the fires occurred before the Earth began warming in the industrial age.
Here’s what you need to know about the drug linked to living longer

Dec 3, 2024 | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

The quest for the fountain of youth may go back centuries, but it’s only in the past two decades that scientists may be close to finding it—at least as it pertains to yeast, flies, and mice. The elixir of interest to both researchers and longevity seekers is the prescription drug rapamycin. Some anti-aging influencers like Peter Attia, a physician and popular podcaster who devoted a chapter to the drug in his recent bestseller, Outlive, are enamored by its possibilities.