Engaging in “mentally active” activities versus “mentally passive” ones while sitting or lounging may affect your risk for dementia, according to a recent study.

In a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine last month, researchers evaluated over 20,000 adult participants in Sweden, most of whom were women. Researchers administered a baseline questionnaire to participants in 1997 to assess their mentally passive sedentary behaviours, such as watching TV and listening to music. They also assessed their mentally active sedentary behaviours, such as office work or knitting and sewing. Their light and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was also assessed using questionnaires. The participants were evaluated for incident dementia nearly two decades later.

The study found that mentally passive sedentary behaviour ― for example, watching TV ― was associated with a higher incidence of dementia. But adding mentally active sedentary behaviour (needlepointing, anyone?) showed promising outcomes.

Researchers found that each additional hour of mentally active sedentary behaviour a day was associated with a 4% lower risk of dementia — and that adding mentally active sedentary behaviour showed a higher protective effect for participants aged 50 to 64.

The study also found that replacing one hour of mentally passive sedentary behaviour with one hour of active sedentary behaviour was associated with a 7% decreased risk. What’s more, adding one hour of mentally active sedentary behaviour, while maintaining the same passive sedentary behaviour and light and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, was associated with a 11% decrease in incident dementia risk.

Researchers noted that the study had some limitations. For starters, the study began in 1997, before the vast introduction of smartphones, social media and video streaming — which are now very common ways people engage in sedentary behaviour.

Dr. Hussein Yassine, a professor of neurology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, emphasised to NBC News that phone and social media usage, which are considered mentally passive behaviours, may pose risks to our ability to concentrate.

“It’s going to be affecting your ability to process information and potentially build synapses in certain areas in the brain that help with concentrating,” Yassine told the outlet. “So the next time you have a serious task or you need to concentrate, you’re less capable because your brain networks have been hijacked by this passive reception.”

Among several other limitations cited in the study: Researchers pointed out that cognitive assessments were not done at the start, and it’s possible the sample may have included more prevalent cases of dementia, which may have resulted in a bias in the results.

Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and clinical associate professor at George Washington University and CNN wellness expert, told CNN that one explanation for the results of the study could be due to the fact that “the brain benefits from being challenged.”

“Cognitive engagement helps maintain neural connections and may support what’s called cognitive reserve, which is the brain’s ability to adapt and compensate for changes over time,” she said. “When people spend long periods in activities that require very little mental effort, those pathways may not be stimulated in the same way. Over the course of months and years, that lack of engagement could contribute to decline in memory and thinking.”

Wen cautioned, though, that the study doesn’t prove cause and effect.

“It’s possible that people with better baseline cognitive function are more likely to choose mentally engaging activities,” she said. “So, while the findings are compelling, they should be interpreted as an association rather than proof that choosing passive activities directly leads to dementia.”

Research has shown that engaging in mentally stimulating activities, in addition to staying physically active, can be beneficial for your brain health.

Dr. Dylan Wint, director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, previously emphasised the importance of strengthening the brain in an interview with HuffPost.

“You could try brain games, a new hobby, taking a class at a college or community centre, or learning a new language or instrument,” Wint said. “When determining whether an activity can have some cognitive benefit, what’s most important is that you are challenged and learning.”

Wes Streeting has condemned Donald Trump’s “incendiary, provocative and outrageous” threat to destroy Iranian civilisation.

The health secretary accused the US president of using “rhetoric which people might find shocking” in the most outspoken attack on him so far by a government minister.

Streeting took aim at Trump after peace talks between America and Iran broke up without agreement.

Trump sparked an angry backlash last week when he claimed that “an entire civilisation will die tonight” unless Tehran re-opened the Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire was agreed at the last minute, but the vitally important waterway remains effectively blocked to oil traffic.

On Sky News on Sunday morning, Streeting said: “Over the course of the past week, President Trump has said some pretty bold, in Yes Minister language, incendiary, provocative, outrageous things on social media.

“I think we’ve all come to learn that you judge President Trump through what he does, not just what he says.”

Trump has also launched repeated attacks on Keir Starmer over the UK’s initial refusal to allow the US jets to use RAF bases to launch their attacks on Iran.

He said the prime minister was “no Winston Churchill” and has also compared him to his Hitler-appeasing predecessor Neville Chamberlain.

Streeting said the so-called special relationship had been “undoubtedly strained” by the split over Iran, but insisted the two countries still enjoyed a strong partnership.

He said: “We are old and close friends and we’ve got a shared outlook as democratic countries and we’ve got shared security interests.

“So all of that partnership continues to go on. The point I’m making is you have to distinguish between some of the rhetoric which people might find shocking, and then the reality.

“There were lots of people who went to bed earlier this week with President Trump threatening the end of Iranian civilisation, wondering what on earth would happen overnight, and woke up to a very different picture next morning.

“That’s the point we’re making. There’s a difference between what he says and what he does, and the prime minister has kept level-headed cool, calm leadership that I think the public have appreciated and respected.”

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We’ve all been there. Whether it’s a fight with a partner or a tense moment with a co-worker, something gets triggered and suddenly it feels like your nervous system has been hijacked. You say or do something you regret later and think: How could I have handled that better?

The frustrating part is that trying to “think” your way through it in the moment often doesn’t work.

“When you’re mid-fight and your nervous system is flooded, your rational brain is offline,” Erica Schwartzberg, somatic therapist at Downtown Somatic Therapy, told HuffPost. “That’s why ‘just calm down’ or ‘let’s talk about this rationally’ doesn’t work. You have to regulate your body first. Then your brain comes back online, and you can have a productive conversation.”

But when you’re already dysregulated, it helps to adjust your expectations. As Toni Teixeria, licensed clinical social worker at Strong at the Core Counseling, put it, “When you are already dysregulated, it is often hard to get regulated.” The goal isn’t instant calm. It’s to “bring your thinking brain back online so that you can make the best choice in the situation.”

That’s why simple actions matter. In the middle of a fight, “doing small things is best,” she said, especially because “doing something complicated or forgetting what to do may increase your frustration.”

And importantly, this isn’t about suppressing what you feel. As Schwartzberg noted, “These exercises aren’t about suppressing your feelings or ‘being nice’ when you’re legitimately hurt or angry. They’re about creating enough space between stimulus and response so you can choose how to express yourself instead of just reacting.”

Below are a few quick, physical ways to shift your state just enough to move from reacting to responding.

This might seem almost too simple, but it’s powerful. By taking a step back in the middle of a conflict, Teixeria said, “You are physically changing your position to move into a safer state.” It becomes a literal cue to your body that “you don’t need to fight.”

This simple movement can soften the body’s impulse to stay in “fight” mode by signaling that you don’t need to engage at full intensity.

“Research on ‘psychological distancing’ shows that stepping into more of an observer perspective can support emotional regulation,” Teixeria explains. “Creating even a small amount of physical space between you and the stressor gives you a chance to shift your perspective and interrupt the stress cycle, which may help dial down the surge of stress chemicals keeping you in a heightened, reactive state.”

Schwartzberg calls this her favourite, and for good reason.

The practice is simple, and maybe a little fun. “Relax your lips and blow air through them so they vibrate/flutter (like a horse snorting or making a ‘brrrr’ sound).” Let your face soften and continue for a few seconds.

What’s happening underneath is surprisingly powerful. As Schwartzberg explains, “This technique releases tension in your face and jaw,” which are two places we instinctively tighten during conflict. When those muscles soften, it sends a bottom-up signal of safety to your nervous system.

There’s also a neurological component. According to Schwartzberg, the vibration stimulates the vagus nerve through the facial muscles while creating a gentle “pattern interrupt.” In other words, it disrupts the escalation loop just enough to give you a reset.

And then there’s the human element. “It’s nearly impossible to stay furious while making horse noises,” she said. That tiny moment of absurdity can add just enough lightness to break the intensity.

This one might require you to step out of the room for a moment, but can be incredibly effective.

Basically, according to Schwartzberg, you’re going to physically shake your hands, arms, legs, or whole body for 10 to 30 seconds. “Let it be loose, floppy, and uncontrolled,” she said.

Why does it work? “When you’re in fight-or-flight, your body is flooded with stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline) and physical tension. Animals in the wild literally shake after a threat to discharge that energy as a trauma release,” Schwartzberg explains. “Humans need to do this too, but we’ve been socialized to ‘hold it together.’”

Shaking does the opposite, said Schwartzberg, because “it completes the stress cycle your body started,” allowing that activation to move through instead of getting stuck.

A sigh is more than just an expression ― it’s also a reset. “Sighing tends to reset your nervous system,” Teixeira explains, especially because it creates “a longer exhale which helps your parasympathetic nervous system to begin to settle you down.”

Physiologically, “a long, audible exhale helps your heart rate to slow down,” activating the vagus nerve ― your body’s internal calming system ― and helping shift you out of fight-or-flight.

One practical note: Sighing can be misinterpreted. People might confuse your sighing for frustration, which is why Teixeira suggests naming it so it doesn’t escalate things, letting the other person know you’re taking a pause rather than expressing annoyance.

Coming from her work as an EMDR therapist, Schwartzberg said this one is especially useful when conflict feels emotionally overwhelming.

The setup: “Cross your arms over your chest… and slowly alternate tapping your shoulders (left, right, left, right).”

The butterfly hug uses “bilateral stimulation, alternating left-right tapping, to calm the amygdala (your brain’s fear and threat-detection center), and helps the left and right hemispheres of the brain reconnect,” Schwartzberg explains.

In a dysregulated state, those systems aren’t communicating well, said Schwartzberg, because our thinking brain and emotional brain aren’t linking up. The rhythmic left-right tapping helps restore that connection.

There’s also a deeply human layer to it, too. The motion “mimics being rocked or held, which is deeply soothing to your nervous system,” she said. “Especially if you’re feeling attacked or alone in the conflict.”

According to Teixeria, conflict narrows your focus. “When there is [perceived] danger we are locked on it,” she said. And in an argument, that “danger” becomes the other person, and can easily dysregulate our nervous system.

That’s where orienting comes in. “Looking around is a way to send signals to your nervous system that you are safe,” she explains. By scanning your environment, you interrupt that tunnel vision and remind your brain this isn’t a life-or-death situation. You might even repeat: “I am in a room with four walls and a ceiling, not in a life-or-death struggle.”

This, Teixeria said, helps your brain recognise that you’re safe, so you can actually step out of survival mode.

Chef comment provided by Stuart Gillies, chef-owner for Number Eight, Sevenoaks and Bank House, Chislehurst, and Luca Meola, chef-owner of Rossella, Italian restaurant and deli in Kentish Town.

Recently, HuffPost UK asked chefs to share the very best meals they could think to make with rhubarb and leeks.

The seasonal staples are especially delicious in spring and early summer. But what about a good ol’ tin of butter beans, which lasts year-round?

Here, we asked chefs Stuart Gillies and Luca Meola to share their favourite meals to make with this “fibremaxxer’s” fave:

Usually, the classic French salad contains potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, green beans, olives, lettuce, tomato, and tuna.

On top lies a tangy garlic, anchovy, mustard, vinegar, and olive oil dressing.

But for a “creamier” version, chef Gillies said you can’t go wrong with a can of butter beans in place of the usual spuds.

“I love adding them into a Niçoise-style salad ― they bring a natural creaminess and make the dish feel more substantial, while still keeping it fresh and balanced,” he told us.

“Tossed with green beans, tomatoes, olives and a sharp vinaigrette, it’s a really satisfying, protein-rich plate that works perfectly for warmer days.”

One of my favourite lunches of all time is a leek and butter bean dish that takes less than 15 minutes to whip up. Another beloved version is “marry me” butterbeans, which basically just means cooking them in tomato sauce and adding something creamy and/or cheesy at the end.

Chef Meola takes a similarly minimalist approach.

“Butter beans are great cooked slowly with garlic, olive oil and a bit of rosemary until they go really soft and creamy,” he told us.

“Finish with good olive oil, and that’s pretty much it.”

He didn’t explicitly mention eating that with a hunk of crusty bread, but we’ll be trying it that way anyway.

Labour MPs from across the country are being urged to campaign in London over the next fortnight as the party fears losing key councils to the Greens.

Voters in the capital, as well as millions of people across England, Scotland and Wales, will go to the polls for crunch elections on May 7.

Experts, as well as Labour MPs themselves, are predicting that the party is heading for “a bloodbath” as the electorate delivers a damning verdict of the government’s performance so far.

MPs will return to Westminster on Monday after the two-week Easter recess.

Labour chair Anna Turley has written to the party’s MPs who were first elected at the 2024 general election urging them to get out knocking on doors while they are in London.

In her message, seen by HuffPost UK, she says: “Back to London next week!
Let’s make our time there really count in the last few weeks of the campaign!

“Every London council seat is up for election in May. I know you’re all doing great work across the country but let’s use our time in the big smoke to help our Labour family there.

“We’re heading out campaigning in key London areas next week and the following week.

It would be fantastic to have colleagues (and available team members) from across the country join us—just as London has supported so many of our campaigns before. Your help would make a real difference.”

One Labour MP told HuffPost UK that the message showed “things must be bad” for the party in the capital.

Among the Labour-run authorities thought to be vulnerable are those in Islington, Lambeth, Southwark and Hackney.

A Green Party spokesman said: “It’s not the 2024 intake of Labour MPs people in London want to see on their doorsteps, it’s help with the affordability crisis and real affordable housing.

“People are turning to the Greens because they see a real alternative to failing Labour councils.”

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A host of Labour cabinet members are set to lose their seats to both Reform UK and the Greens at the next election, according to a new mega poll.

The More in Common study suggests Rachel Reeves, Wes Streeting and Yvette Cooper are among those who could be kicked out by voters at the next election.

Labour leadership hopeful and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner would also lose her seat, as would John Healey, Ed Miliband, Hilary Benn and Darren Jones.

Although Keir Starmer would be re-elected in the traditionally safe Labour seat of Holborn and St Pancras, his majority would be slashed.

Reform would win a staggering 324 seats – just short of an overall Commons majority – while the Greens would see their number of MPs quadruple to 21, the poll said.

However, Labour would plummet from 411 seats to just 102, with the Tories also falling to 81, the Lib Dems on 62 and the SNP on 26.

The findings are another blow to Keir Starmer and come less than a month before voters in England, Scotland and Wales go to the polls for crunch elections on May 7.

Around 15,000 people were polled by More in Common, who used the so-called MRP method to calculate their results.

This gives a seat-by-seat breakdown, based on the social and demographic make-up of each constituency, to come up with its forecast and is generally seen as the most accurate type of opinion poll.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that, almost as often as writers pinch Jane Austen’s most famous opening line, new adaptations must join the already hefty pile.

And this is especially true at the present moment, after last year marked the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth. While most of us settle for a bottle of pinot down the pub, for Austen, the celebrations of her semiquincentennial include a fresh Hollywood movie and the Netflix treatment for a fan-favourite novel.

The latest spin on Austen’s work is the new BBC series The Other Bennet Sister, which taps into the POV of the sidelined Pride & Prejudice sister, Mary.

Starring Ruth Jones as Mrs Bennet and Call The Midwife actor Ella Bruccoleri as the titular character, many fans have already torn through the series and are on the hunt for more where that came from.

If that sounds familiar, you may well be looking for your next Austen fix right now. Luckily, there’s plenty to look forward to this year – here’s what else you can look forward to getting stuck into…

After recruiting Dakota Johnson for a tepidly-received film version of Jane Austen’s 1817 novel Persuasion, Netflix is having another go at bringing Austen’s work to life on screen.

This time around, Everything I Know About Love author Dolly Alderton has written a six-part TV adaptation of Pride & Prejudice that will arrive at a currently undisclosed date later this year.

The Crown’s Emma Corrin will play Elizabeth Bennet while Slow Horses star Jack Lowden will follow in Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen’s footsteps to portray Mr Darcy.

Meanwhile, Olivia Colman and Rufus Sewell will play Mrs and Mr Bennett, respectively, with Heartstopper’s Rhea Norwood and Industry’s Freya Mavor also appearing as Lydia and Jane Bennett.

The star-studded series will also include appearances from Daryl McCormack, Jamie Demetriou, Louis Partridge and Black Mirror’s Siena Kelly.

Describing Pride & Prejudice as the “blueprint for romantic comedy”, Dolly has teased what we can expect “both familiar and fresh” ideas in her take on Austen’s classic.

“In it lies the opportunity to examine the complexities of love, family, friendship, and society, while aspiring to Austen’s delightfully observational voice,” she enthused.

If you’re more in the market for a big screen-adaptation, there’s also a new Sense And Sensibility movie on the way this September.

Austen’s 1811 novel centres on the Dashwood sisters, after they and their widowed mother have become destitute following the death of their father, resulting in them moving to a modest cottage on their cousin’s estate.

Naturally, being an Austen novel, the sisters also navigate suitors of varying morals and suitability.

The 2026 adaptation is led by BAFTA-nominated Blue Jean director Georgia Oakley, with Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones and Hanna star Esmé Creed-Miles starring as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood.

Meanwhile, George MacKay, Fiona Shaw, Caitríona Balfe and Frank Dillane are also in the cast.

The 2026 adaptation is the first major take on Austen’s novel since Ang Lee’s 1995 adaptation, featuring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman, which picked up seven Oscar nominations and 12 Bafta nods at the time.

Unfortunately, that’s not looking likely.

The TV series is adapted from Janice Hadlow’s book of the same name, with the events of pretty much the whole novel being covered over the course of the 10 episodes.

Screenwriter Sarah Quintrell did tell Radio Times that she would “love to do more” shows like The Other Bennet Sister, but clarified that she meant “more stories taking a different angle” on classic tales we already know and love, rather than specifically more shows set in the Pride & Prejudice universe.

If it’s even more stars you’re after, perhaps you’d be interested in the revamped audiobook of Pride & Prejudice, which features a bunch of the biggest new acting names as well as a few legends.

Alright, so technically this was released in 2025, but we reckon it’s new enough to pique your interest if you’re still coming off the Other Bennett Sister high.

Audible’s reading of the novel sees Industry star Marisa Abela take on the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet, with Babygirl’s Harris Dickinson joining her as Mr Darcy.

Elsewhere, Will Poulter voices Mr Wickham, while Oscar-winner Jessie Buckley is Caroline Bingley, Glenn Close stars as Lady Catherine De Bourgh, and Mr and Mrs Bennett are played by Bill Nighy and Marianne Jean-Baptiste

The Other Bennet Sister is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.