October 04, 2018 at 12:22PM Growing up, there was really only one face of calcium—and that was typically that of your favorite celebrity wearing a frothy white mustache with a “got milk?” slogan plastered across the ad. While milk and other dairy products are still the most well-known sources of the mineral, they’re certainly not the only—or the best (gasp!)—options. What exactly is calcium? But first, why exactly do you need it in the first place? Calcium plays a lot of important roles in your body that go far beyond keeping your bones strong. According to Harvard University, the mineral keeps your teeth looking top-notch, helps your blood clot, is responsible for the transmission of nerve impulses, and even regulates the rhythm of your heart. While the majority of the mineral is stored in your bones and teeth—99 percent, to be exact—that other one percent can be found in your blood and other tissues in the body. Eating the proper amount of calcium every day is pretty important. According to the National Institutes of Health, adults ages 19 to 50 need 1,000 milligrams a day to keep the body functioning properly and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, a condition that makes your bones weak and brittle. The type you take in is crucial too: While milk is a quick and easy way to get enough calcium, it’s not necessarily the most health-conscious choice—even for preventing osteoporosis: “The dairy industry would like you to believe that osteoporosis is a dairy-deficiency disease. But if you’re eating
Month: October 2018
5 Clean Beauty Secrets For Revealing Glowing Skin
October 03, 2018 at 11:15PM These are 5 easy beauty hacks for transforming your routine. Continue Reading… Author Sophie Jaffe | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue
How to turn your tiny bathroom into a self-care sanctuary
October 04, 2018 at 11:47AM When you’re living in an apartment, bungalow, or even a charming (read: small) single-family home, chances are, you’re going to have to deal with a tiny bathroom. But, that doesn’t mean it can’t still double as a self-care sanctuary. All it takes is the right storage, thoughtful features, and a little ingenuity. Below are four brilliant tips to turn your small bathroom into an oh-so-soothing space. 1. Good vibes aren’t restricted by square footage so up yours with a little ambiance A small bathtub doesn’t automatically mean you miss out on restorative soaking sessions. It does mean you’ll have to get creative with the real-estate around it, though. Wellness influencer Alison Wu likes to rest small crystals and candles on the edges of her tub to cultivate an “inviting, calming, and grounding space.” Then, she fills her bath with salts, Crosby AMA Water Fragrance, and flowers from her garden. 2. Spotlight self-care essentials and store everything else to eliminate clutter Open shelving nestled alongside a bathroom door is the perfect place to showcase beloved products and decorative pieces. Plus, it’s an amazing space-saver. “I love to be able to have all my favorite products in easy reach, says interior consultant Hannah Atkins. “When they were stored in the cupboard, I couldn’t find things easily.” Her favorite Ikea hack is using its picture ledges to create #shelfie-worthy storage. By decluttering her space, she has more room for another self-care essential: shower-friendly foliage. “In the bathroom, plants
Everyone poops—and, wow, does my husband know it
October 04, 2018 at 11:43AM Listen, I get it: If you’re having a nice and relaxing night out, enjoying some, say, spaghetti bolognese, you might not be itching to hear the ins and outs of my latest BMs. In fact, even if you’re not consuming a meal that closely resembles diarrhea, you may not want to hear it. This preference is totally reasonable; some people are simply poop people and others aren’t. And after enough double dates that have left me and my husband feeling like third-graders who got caught giggle-whispering curse words by a friend’s parent (i.e., someone who finds the behavior so unfunny but isn’t going to punish you for it), I’m more than aware that there are also poop couples and distinctively non-poop couples. That said, most poop couples start out as non-poop couples until someone breaks the ice—or, er, cuts the cheese. In my case, the event happened early on and I was the culprit. We were watching a movie one night in his bedroom, and when he got up to adjust something on the TV screen, I thought I’d pull a fast one. It might’ve been zippy, but jeez did that silent sucker linger. Sure, I was embarrassed! Being the first to fart is similar to being the first to say “I love you”; even if you can’t possibly hold it in, it’s scary business. But just like how one “I love you” often leads to a whole avalanche of ‘em, one fart is well…let’s
This low-FODMAP chia tapioca pudding will make winter feel like a cozy hug
October 04, 2018 at 11:23AM If you were lucky enough to have single-serving tapioca pudding cups as a constant feature in your lunch box during grade school, you’re no-doubt already fully aware of its comforting properties. What you might not be aware of, however, is that the sweet snack can totally hold a place in your healthy adult-life menu rotation. Tapioca is derived from starchy cassava plants. One cup includes 1.5 grams of fiber, so by spooning it in, folks can get closer to satisfying their daily allotment of the carb component that’s key to keeping metabolism balanced. Tapioca also features helpings of calcium, magnesium, folate, and iron. Making your own healthy batch of tapioca pudding is much easier than you may have assumed—and totally worth your time considering that many popular commercially available options skew high in sugar. And making your own healthy batch is much easier than you may have assumed—and totally worth your time considering that many popular commercially available options skew high in sugar. The recipe provided here is straight from low-FODMAP meal-delivery service, Epicured, which helps out tons of people who suffer from varying degrees of irritable bowel syndrome. The company’s co-founder, director of food and health services, and recipe creator Renee Cherkezian, RN, elevates the health factor even higher in her version by adding fibrous chia seeds and antioxidant-rich raspberries. Cherkezian says the secret to making a low-FODMAP tapioca chia pudding is to use alternative milk, and in this case, that’s coconut. She also says
Chrissy Teigen’s $40 cast iron Dutch oven for Target looks as good as Le Creuset
October 04, 2018 at 11:05AM The concept that “you get what you pay for” applies to pretty much everything in life. One exception, though, is the cast iron cookware from the new Cravings by Chrissy Teigen Target Collection. The cookbook author and headband connoisseur dubbed the two Dutch ovens and everyday family pan from her collab “kitchen classics.” And we couldn’t agree more. But at less than $40 each, they cost a fraction of what you’d pay for high-end alternatives from brands like Staub or Le Creuset. A 5.5 quart Dutch Oven from the latter retails for $340 on its site—and still costs twice as much even second hand on sites like Etsy. Between the three pieces from Teigen’s line, you can basically cook any one pot (or pan) meal you’re, ahem, craving. Plus, with their matte black finish and polished brass hardware, this cast iron cookware isn’t just as timeless looking as its up-market counterparts—they’re equally built to last when properly hand washed. All cast iron cookware (no matter the cost) is durable, can stand the heat of high temps on the stovetop or in the oven, and cooks food evenly. It’s why they’re healthy kitchen staples for chefs like Teigen. So, if you’re looking to take home anything from the Lipsync Battle host’s new affordable home line (all 40 pieces of which cost between $4 and $140), start with the three below in order to get the most bang for your buck. (There’s also an enameled version of the 5
The Starter Essentials You Need To Create An All-Natural Nursery
October 03, 2018 at 11:00PM These Mindful Nursery Picks Are Safe, Sustainable, and Very, Very Cute Continue Reading… Author Sophie Jaffe | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue
Having these 5 personality traits makes you “fun” studies show
October 04, 2018 at 09:17AM If you—like me—live in perpetual fear of being the boring person no one wants to get caught standing next to in a social situation, then take refuge in this fact: There are five possible traits that can earn you “fun person”-status with other people. So even if you don’t boast all of them, you still have a shot at peer-acceptance. (Phew, right?!) By cross-referencing studies on the subject and extrapolating from the “Big Five” personality traits, Glenn Geher, PhD, a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz, found that a life-of-the-party personality is composed of a handful of attributes: extraversion, open-mindedness, humor production, humor perception, and creativity, reports Psychology Today. Just like the overarching Big Fives, you can think about each of these qualities existing on a spectrum. So maybe you’re really tuned into smart humor, but you just can’t quite get the whole extraversion thing down. Or maybe you’re super open-minded, but only so-so at cracking jokes. “Creative people have been found to be high in emotional intelligence, which is a key factor in social relationships.” Dr. Geher also explains that creative minds often rise to the surface as the type of lively, observant folks you want to say a toast at your wedding, or act as your buffer during awkward convos. “We are deeply entertained by highly creative people, including high-caliber musicians, artists, comedians, actors, dancers, storytellers, architects, and so forth,” he says. “Creative people have been found to be high in
Found: The lazy girl’s mess-free solution for frozen avocados
October 04, 2018 at 09:10AM There are two types of people in this world: Those who love squishing avocados between their fingers before mushing the mixture into ice-cube trays to freeze for future smoothie use, and those who would prefer not covering themselves (and, in all likelihood, their kitchen) in delicious green slime. No matter which camp you personally identify with, you might be wise to stock your freezer with a new product from Welch’s to make meal-prepping the fruit as easy as possible in a pinch. The next time you’re at the grocery store (online destinations like Amazon and Walmart are currently fresh out), keep your eyes peeled for one of the best sights…ever: bag upon bag of frozen avocado chunks. There are plenty of reasons—beyond saving you a big mess, of course—to give the genius product, which allows you to be a bit lazier, a try. According to Welch’s, the avocados are frozen when they’re perfectly ripe, so you can avoid playing the guessing game when buying a bag. And since they come in chunks, you don’t need to worry about accidentally cutting yourself via “avocado hand” while trying to get your fix. Smoothies aren’t the only thing you can use the frozen goodies for, either. Stick them into sandwiches, blend them into dressings, or even use them to create an oh-so-creamy chocolatey avocado pudding—the limit does not exist here! And with 10- or 32-ounce-bag options, you’ll never run out. Once you get over the “why didn’t I think of that” face-palm line of thinking, just make
I had an unhealthy relationship with coffee—here’s how I healed it
October 04, 2018 at 08:31AM To say that I love coffee would be a total understatement. (Seriously, just check my bio.) I’ve always been that girl, the one who couldn’t function without a cup of java first thing in the morning. You know those memes that say, “But first, coffee”? That’s basically my life mantra. And, it wasn’t just a once-a-day habit. Every day, I craved another coffee at 10 a.m., and then usually again around 3 or 4 p.m. The thought of going even one day without it—and enduring the inevitable headaches, brain fog, and other caffeine withdrawal symptoms—made me cringe. I was sure that if I stopped drinking coffee, I wouldn’t be able to get any work done, let alone hit the gym or be pleasant at a social event. And, to be totally honest, I wasn’t convinced that I even needed to cut back on coffee, despite all of the things I’ve read about the potential side effects of too much caffeine. I drank mine organic with coconut cream or almond milk, and sometimes even added collagen or drank it Bulletproof style. A #wellnesswin, right? Turns out, not exactly. (At least, not for me.) No matter how much caffeine I consumed, I always felt tired and even started resorting to energy drinks just to give me a jolt. Fast forward about six months after I moved to New York City, where people hold coffee cups like fashion accessories when they walk the streets. No matter how much caffeine I consumed,