Month: June 2019

June 09, 2019 at 08:00AM by CWC Trying to hit a new PR at the gym? Sometimes breaking through a performance plateau can be frustrating—which is why some corners of the internet would recommend turning to supplements like taurine for a boost. So what is taurine? “Our body makes taurine on its own and it is also found in some foods, mainly in animal products,” says Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, founder of Real Nutrition. It’s a sulfur amino acid, meaning that it has a sulfuric compound in it called sulfhydryl, and helps with protein structure in your body. There are several sulfur amino acids, but this one is called “taurine” because it was first discovered in the bile of bulls, says Steven Gundry, MD, author of The Longevity Paradox: How to Die Young at a Ripe Old Age. What’s special about taurine? Research has found that the amino acid has certain potential antioxidant and metabolism-aiding properties, which is why it’s a popular supplement ingredient. Here’s what you should know about its potential benefits. What are some taurine benefits I should know about? 1. It may be good for brain health. Taurine is one of the few antioxidants that can cross the blood-brain barrier (a filtering mechanism in your body that prevents some substances from reaching the brain) Dr. Gundry says, which is why studies have shown it can help reduce seizures in those who have drug-resistant epilepsy (although this was a mouse study, so results aren’t conclusive) and improve symptoms

Read More

June 09, 2019 at 08:00AM by CWC Trying to hit a new PR at the gym? Sometimes breaking through a performance plateau can be frustrating—which is why some corners of the internet would recommend turning to supplements like taurine for a boost. So what is taurine? “Our body makes taurine on its own and it is also found in some foods, mainly in animal products,” says Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, founder of Real Nutrition. It’s a sulfur amino acid, meaning that it has a sulfuric compound in it called sulfhydryl, and helps with protein structure in your body. There are several sulfur amino acids, but this one is called “taurine” because it was first discovered in the bile of bulls, says Steven Gundry, MD, author of The Longevity Paradox: How to Die Young at a Ripe Old Age. What’s special about taurine? Research has found that the amino acid has certain potential antioxidant and metabolism-aiding properties, which is why it’s a popular supplement ingredient. Here’s what you should know about its potential benefits. What are some taurine benefits I should know about? 1. It may be good for brain health. Taurine is one of the few antioxidants that can cross the blood-brain barrier (a filtering mechanism in your body that prevents some substances from reaching the brain) Dr. Gundry says, which is why studies have shown it can help reduce seizures in those who have drug-resistant epilepsy (although this was a mouse study, so results aren’t conclusive) and improve symptoms

Read More

June 09, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Whenever I go to my friend’s apartment for rosé and a tarot-card reading (mostly for rosé, but as long as the deck is there…), I get embarrassed about not knowing how to shuffle tarot cards. See, if you’re getting your cards read by someone, your literal only job is to pick cards, and shuffle the deck, and maybe channel your energy toward the process. But whenever I try to shuffle the deck, I feel as though the cards are splaying about randomly and un-artfully and that I’m just doing it wrong. But why do we shuffle our tarot decks, anyway? Well, beyond the fact that you don’t simply want to draw the same cards over and over and over again, shuffling the deck is really important on an energetic level, according to Alexis Alvarez, an intuitive energy worker and spiritual advisor. “Shuffling serves a kind of meditative purpose in which we can ask for assistance, guidance and protection from our Divine Support System—our chosen belief system—during the card reading,” Alvarez tells me. “We can also use this shuffle time to ask, out loud or in our mind, the particular question we are trying to get advice on. This helps us ground and center our energy so we can be in the best state possible to connect with and retrieve the information we are seeking.” So when we mix up the cards, sloppily and with a Knight of Pentacles about to jump ship (or, y’know,

Read More