When most people think about eating healthy, they picture a plate piled high with salad greens. But despite the abundance of vegetables in grocery stores, many of the most nutrient-dense options rarely make it into everyday meals.

People tend to stick to the same few: lettuce, carrots, broccoli, maybe some spinach, while skipping vegetables that pack unique health benefits. That’s why I encourage my patients to go beyond the basics. By adding more of the overlooked super-veggies to your meals, you can support gut health, longevity and overall vitality.

In fact, they’re one of the most powerful tools for repairing and protecting your body at the cellular level. Here are five healthiest yet underrated vegetables we don’t eat enough of.

Jerusalem artichokes may not look appealing, but they’re a powerhouse for gut health. They’re one of the richest natural sources of inulin, a prebiotic fiber that feeds beneficial gut bacteria.

When those bacteria thrive, they produce compounds like butyrate, which supports the gut lining and helps regulate inflammation. A healthier microbiome is linked to better digestion, immune function and even mood regulation.

Slimy? Maybe. Underrated? Absolutely. Okra is loaded with polyphenols, fiber and compounds that may help lower blood sugar. I often highlight okra for its ability to “trap” lectins, making it easier for your gut to process potentially harmful compounds in other foods.

That means okra can help protect your gut barrier and ease digestive stress, all while providing antioxidant protection to your cells. And there’s plenty of ways to cook it, like roasting it on high heat, that eliminates the goo while retaining benefits.

This vibrant purplish-red vegetable often gets mistaken for red cabbage, but it’s actually a type of chicory. And yes, it’s bitter, but that’s exactly why I recommend it. Bitter vegetables stimulate digestion, help reduce sugar cravings, and are loaded with polyphenols that fight oxidative stress.

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Radicchio also contains antioxidants that protect your mitochondria (your cells’ energy factories), while supporting blood sugar balance and cardiovascular health. 

Most people use celery stalks and ignore the knobby root, but celeriac is a hidden gem. It’s lower in carbohydrates than potatoes, high in fiber and a good source of vitamin K and essential minerals.

Celeriac works especially well as a substitute for higher-starch vegetables. Mashed, roasted or baked, it delivers comfort-food texture with a gentler impact on blood sugar.

Also known as the Mexican yam bean, jicama is a crisp, refreshing root vegetable that’s low in sugar but high in fiber — particularly inulin, which supports gut health.

Jicama also provides vitamin C, minerals and hydration, making it an excellent alternative to processed snacks. Its mild flavor and crunch make it easy to add to salads, slaws or vegetable platters.

Try jicama sticks with guacamole (check out my tomato-free guac recipe). Grate it for a slaw, or add it thinly sliced to salads for a refreshing crunch. And, finally, one of my favorite ways to eat it: jicama fries!

Of course, you should check with your physician before making any major changes to your diet. Make it a goal to eat at least one new vegetable a week. It turns grocery shopping into a fun scavenger hunt. And who knows? You may really like how they taste or, more importantly, like how you feel eating them!

Dr. Steven Gundry, MD, is a former cardiac surgeon, founder of GundryMD, and author of the bestselling books ”The Gut-Brain Paradox″ and ”The Plant Paradox.” For over 20 years, his research has focused on the microbiome’s role in chronic disease and longevity. He received his degrees from Yale University and the Medical College of Georgia, and completed his surgical residency at the University of Michigan. Follow him on Instagram @drstevengundry.

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No parent is perfect — and that’s for the best, according to child psychologist Becky Kennedy.

When parents make mistakes, and then make an effort to repair those missteps, they teach their kids important lessons about maturity and bonding, Kennedy told comedian Trevor Noah’s “What Now?” podcast in a Dec. 4 episode. Those lessons can help kids maintain happy and healthy relationships going forward, she said.

“We learn the most in our relationships when people take responsibility for their behavior, when people repair,” said Kennedy, a Columbia University-trained child psychologist, host of the parenting podcast “Good Inside” and a mother of three children herself. “I wouldn’t want to deprive my kids of that opportunity, and that’s such [an important] part of healthy relationships.”

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Repairing a mistake or a rift is the best way to get closer to another person, Kennedy said, calling it “the ultimate relationship strategy.” In parenting, those repairs can strengthen the parent-child bond and give your child a model for how to own up to their own mistakes, said Kennedy. They can teach kids that it’s natural to make mistakes, and how you respond to them matters.

Other parenting experts broadly agree: Parents should model to their children how to bounce back from a mistake by apologizing and then moving on. Learning that mistakes are inevitable rather than a sign of inherent flaws can help your kids avoid the stress of perfectionism, which can lead to long-term mental health issues like anxiety and low self-esteem, according to developmental psychologist Aliza Pressman.

“If our kids didn’t see [our mistakes], they would not have much hope that they get to make mistakes and grow and still be loved and be worthy,” Pressman told “The Mel Robbins Podcast” in a July 28 episode.

For her part, Kennedy said that she’s far from a perfect parent, admitting to Noah that there have been “innumerable” times where her kids threw tantrums — and all of the lessons she teaches about leading with empathy went out the window.

“I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again, and I mean it with such honesty that my kids don’t have some Dr. Becky[-type] person as a mom,” she said. She recalled an instance where one of her kids whined about what she’d cooked for dinner, and she lost her temper and yelled at the child. You shouldn’t do that, of course, she noted — but if you do, don’t be paralyzed by the shame or guilt of losing your cool.

“Every parent does that,” said Kennedy. “There’s not one parent who has not been in that situation.”

As for why you need to own up to your behavior: Consider “what happens for a kid when the person they depend on for safety becomes the person who scares them,” Kennedy said. It’s “a very frenetic experience” that can leave your child overwhelmed as they try to cope through a mixture of “self-doubt and self-blame.”

Instead of blaming your child for the frustration that caused you to lash out, say something like, “I’m sorry I yelled,” said Kennedy. “And this line really matters: ‘It’s never your fault when I yell. I’m working on staying calmer, even when I’m frustrated. I love you.’”

The apology is just a first step for parents who are prone to outbursts, Kennedy added. If that’s the case, she recommended working on catching yourself before you lose your cool by taking the time to identify what triggers your frustration. That way, you can try to take a beat and calm down with a deep breath rather than resorting to yelling, she said.

“You can’t help your kid if you’re not doing some type of internal work,” said Kennedy.

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This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Millennial Money series, which examines how people earn, spend and save their money.

Living in New York City’s Manhattan borough on $53,000 a year isn’t easy.

For Eileen Tyrrell, a bookstore manager who lives with two roommates in the pricey Chelsea neighborhood, making it work means saying no in a city seemingly built for spending. In Manhattan, a single adult needs about $68,000 a year just to cover basic necessities, before taxes, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator.

“People ask me all the time how it’s possible to live here on that income,” Tyrrell tells CNBC Make It. “I’m not going to lie. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It’s hard, but it’s so worth it.”

For Tyrrell, 26, making the math work comes down to three things: having almost no debt, paying relatively low rent for Manhattan and keeping her everyday spending low.

“When you think of New York, you think of all of these amazing experiences, and you think of going to a Broadway show, and then going to a club after that, and then doing brunch at an amazing restaurant the next day,” she says. “But when you live here, you can’t live like that.”

Still, Tyrrell says she feels fulfilled by the life she’s built in New York, which includes work she finds meaningful and time spent volunteering in her community.

Here’s a look at Tyrrell’s expenses for September 2025, which were a bit higher than usual because she was catching up on some bills.

Tyrrell usually spends about $3,000 a month on expenses, including rent, utilities, insurance and transportation, with housing making up the largest share of that total.

She pays $1,566 a month for her share of a three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, which rents for a total of $4,698 per month. While that may sound steep compared with much of the U.S., similar units in her neighborhood list for around $7,000 a month.

In addition to living with roommates, Tyrrell lives in a rent-stabilized apartment, which means annual rent increases are limited under city rules. Tyrrell moved into the unit in 2022 after a friend invited her to join the lease — something she says she felt lucky to have.

“Having a rent-stabilized apartment means we’re never going to have the sticker shock of a huge rent increase,” she says.

Outside of housing, Tyrrell relies more on responsible spending habits than a formal budget. She aims to keep grocery costs under $300 a month and shops mostly at Trader Joe’s. She dines out rarely and sticks to inexpensive options when she does, like breakfast sandwiches from her neighborhood deli or a $6 Dunkin’ combo.

Her discretionary spending is typically under $400 a month, with about $100 of that going toward donations. To help keep costs low, she takes advantage of couponing and rewards programs at local retailers.

“I just don’t spend a lot of money,” she says. “All of my furniture and most of my possessions are things that I either brought with me from college or are hand-me-downs that friends gave me.”

Tyrell’s frugality also extends to how she spends her free time. She finds enjoyment in low-cost routines, like walking around New York, meeting friends for coffee instead of drinks and or watching TV at home.

“I had to train myself to find hobbies and interests that weren’t related to spending money,” she says. “And that really helps when you’re living on this type of budget.”

Tyrrell says the hardest part of living on a modest income in New York isn’t tracking expenses — it’s resisting the constant pull to participate in the city’s social life.

Learning to opt out of those experiences was an adjustment, especially when she first moved to New York in 2022, but one she’s grown more comfortable with over time.

“It’s OK that I’m living on this tight budget,” Tyrrell says. “Where I’m at right now is so rewarding and so meaningful. I have a job that I love, I have a life that I love and the financial stability is not quite there. But for now, it’s a tradeoff that I’m comfortable with and willing to make because I love my life so much.”

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Manipulation doesn’t always look dramatic or explosive. It could be a loaded comment in a meeting, a subtle guilt trip in an email, or a casual remark that leaves you questioning yourself long after the conversation ends.

What makes manipulators effective is their ability to influence how you feel. Research on social influence and coercive control shows that manipulators aim for emotional impact: the drop in your confidence, the spike in your anxiety, the moment you start defending instead of deciding.

In my decade advising Fortune 500 companies as a behavioral researcher, I’ve seen this pattern at every level: the person who controls the emotional tone often controls the direction of the interaction.

The most powerful response to a manipulator isn’t to confront them. This often backfires, triggering gaslighting, denial, or escalation. Here’s a simple strategy I teach to help you “CUT” through manipulation.

When your nervous system spikes, your thinking narrows and your behavior becomes easier to steer. Studies on emotional regulation show that staying physiologically calm preserves decision quality under pressure. Slow your breath. Lower your voice. Buy yourself a few seconds before responding.

Instead of reacting with:

• Snapping or raising your voice: “Why are you saying that? That’s not true!”
• Over-explaining or defending yourself: “Actually, I did do [X], and here’s why…”
• Appeasing or over-committing when it’s unreasonable: “Okay, I’ll handle it.”
• Getting defensive or anxious: internal panic, self-doubt, or visible agitation.

Try responding with:

• Neutral acknowledgment: “Noted.”
• Redirect to facts or agenda: “Let’s focus on the next step.”
• Brief, calm clarification if necessary: “I understood it differently; here’s what I did.”
• Pause and buy time: a slow breath, or a moment to compose your response before engaging.

By staying neutral in your responses, you remove the emotional fuel that manipulators rely on and shift the interaction back into your control.

Even when your heart is racing, how you show up matters. A relaxed posture, relaxed facial expression, and steady verbal pace signal that there’s nothing to hook into.

Research on status dynamics and dominance signaling shows that the least reactive person is often seen as the most powerful. Staying unfazed tells the manipulator: Your tactics aren’t working on me.

This is where most people slip. They explain, defend, justify, and try to be understood. But feeding the emotional layer is exactly what keeps manipulation alive. Instead, refocus on facts, boundaries, or the task at hand. Pay attention only to what you can control.

Together, these three moves cut off the oxygen from the interaction. You’re no longer a lever that can be pulled. Over time, that shifts the power in your favor.

The most powerful response is far more destabilizing to the manipulator’s strategy: emotional non-cooperation. Calmly, neutrally, and consistently refusing to feed the emotional leverage, you take away the fuel that sustains their behavior. When emotional leverage disappears, the manipulation often stops.

Shadé Zahrai is an award-winning peak performance educator, behavioral researcher, leadership strategist, and author of “Big Trust: Rewire Self-Doubt, Find Your Confidence, and Fuel Success.” Recognized as one of LinkedIn’s Top 50 Most Impactful People, she supports leaders at some of the world’s biggest brands, including Microsoft, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, and JPMorgan.

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By the time he stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025, Warren Buffett had built the company into a conglomerate worth more than $1 trillion and amassed a personal net worth of about $150 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

It’s a career that scarcely anyone could hope to emulate — though that hasn’t stopped people from asking the Oracle of Omaha for wealth-building advice.

Back in 1999, at Berkshire’s annual meeting, Buffett fielded a question from a shareholder on how to make $30 billion, Buffett’s approximate net worth at the time.

“Start young,” Buffett said, with a chuckle.

“We started building this little snowball on top of a very long hill,” he added. “So we started at a very early age in rolling the snowball down, and of course … the nature of compound interest is that it behaves like a snowball.”

Compounding interest is the phenomenon by which you earn a return on your principal, and then on your principal plus your earnings, and so on and so on, which investing pros often describe as “magic.”

And the “trick” to building a big snowball, Buffett said, is “to have a very long hill, which means either starting very young or living to be very old.”

Buffett went on to say that, were he fresh out of college with $10,000 to invest, he’d build his fortune the same way he did the first time around, by searching for excellent but undervalued companies to invest in.

Over the years, Buffett has acknowledged that the average retail investor doesn’t have the time or ability, as he did, to build a portfolio of individual stocks that delivers market-beating returns. “In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is to own the S&P 500 index fund,” he said at the 2021 annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

Will doing so get you to $150 billion? Not if you only have $10,000 to invest. But play around with any compound interest calculator, and you’ll see that Buffett’s advice of maximizing the runway can have an enormous impact on how your wealth grows over time.

Say a 22-year-old college graduate invested $10,000 in a portfolio earning 8% per year on average, and added in another $5,000 every year. By the time they turned 95, Buffett’s age, their portfolio would be worth north of $21 million, according to CNBC Make It calculations.

If that same investor started five years later, the value of their portfolio would drop to less than $15 million. A 10-year delay puts it under $10 million.

Of course, none of that is in the same stratosphere of Buffett’s wealth — a sum he has called “incomprehensible.” But at the same 1999 meeting, Buffett said that, beyond giving yourself a certain quality of life, having a huge net worth doesn’t mean much.

“The money makes very little difference after a moderate level,” he said.

He went on to say, “If you asked me to trade away a very significant percentage of my net worth either for some extra years on my life or being able to do during those years what I want to do, I’d do it in a second.”

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