Day: October 23, 2019

October 24, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC I can’t remember the last time I took a blowdryer to my hair—and that’s just the way I like it. Call me au naturel (or just, um, lazy), but I far prefer air drying my curls over feeling my arm go limp under the hot, hot heat of the tool. Now that I’ve discovered frizz-fighting towels—a few decades to late, I admit—my post-hair washing routine has gotten the express treatment. For the sake of research, I spent a week of my life washing or co-washing my hair far more than I normally would. (I’m a member of Team Dry Shampoo as well as Team Air Dry.) After rinsing my conditioner, I carefully wrapped my brunette head, massaging out all the water I could. Then I watched my hair go from wet to ready. The 5 best hair towels for a forever frizz-free drying 1. Best for a lightning-fast dry: AQUIS RAPID DRY LISSE HAIR TOWEL, $22 The Aquis hair towel (recommended for “thick, pourous” hair”) is the very first one I try—and it doesn’t disappoint. Today, I shampoo and condition my hair as normal, squeeze my hair lightly with my hands to remove excess water, then fold it into the quilted towel (which I got in pink, ICYWW). After just two minutes bundled on top of my head, my hair emerges already about 40 percent dry. In fact, by the time I curl in bed one hour later, it’s almost entirely dry. Abracadabra! YouTuber

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October 23, 2019 at 11:30PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgP75M5Oobs] You’re just a few steps away from a healthier gut. Watch the video to learn how to make sauerkraut.  Sauerkraut can be a tough sell for people. I mean, pickled cabbage? That’s definitely an acquired taste. But in the latest episode of Well+Good’s Plant Based YouTube series, herbalist Rachelle Robinett argues that its benefits for your digestive health definitely make it worth your time. Robinett says fermentation has been used for thousands of years to preserve perishable foods such as meat, dairy, vegetables (like cabbage), and beverages. The process transforms carbohydrates and sugar into carbon dioxide, acid, and alcohol, which slows the natural decay of the food. Beyond keeping food edible for longer, fermentation has lots of potential benefits for your body, Robinett says. For one, the process breaks down anti-nutrients, compounds in food that can block the absorption of other healthy compounds. “By doing that, [fermentation] is making food safer to eat, easier to digest, often times more nutritious, and full of those great bacteria that we love, probiotics,” she says. Aside from providing better digestion, probiotics are also linked to improved mood and immunity, Robinett says. Want to reap the benefits of fermented food? Watch the full video above to check out Robinett’s easy three-ingredient sauerkraut recipe. The nutrient-dense condiment only takes a few days to ferment and adds the perfect tangy flavor to your salad, sandwiches, omelets, and more. It’s time to give sauerkraut a chance, people. Interested in

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October 23, 2019 at 10:30PM by CWC Less than 10 percent of people in the United States donate blood on an annual basis, which explains in part the findings of American hematologists who recently conducted extensive research on the growing gap between blood supply and demand. The story of blood shortage is hardly new, however. One occurred in July, a Type O shortage happened in May—and that’s just in the U.S. In the face of an obvious need for more ample stores, experts point to the unnecessary restrictions barring gay men from donating blood—a police based on stigma rather than science. “I am a gay male. I give blood because there’s a need for it in our current situation, but I have to lie in order to donate. Just by having sex with another male, I’m automatically eliminated from donating blood,” says Jason Kindt, MD, medical director at the Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stipulates that “a man who has had sex with another man during the past 12 months” is not eligible to donate blood—a rule that doctors say is both outdated and detrimental to the nation’s current blood supply levels. Charles Nicholas Cuneo, MD, a clinical fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital tells Well+Good that the FDA’s recommendation is based on a population-level analysis of risk rather than an individual risk assessment. In other words, they treat all gay men as a homogenous group rather than looking at

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October 23, 2019 at 09:14PM by CWC On Wednesday, the FDA asked manufacturers and medical professionals to better inform women about the potential hazards of breast implants. The federal agency has approved saline and silicone gel implants for augmenting breast size, breast cancer reconstruction, correcting developmental defects, and to “improve: the result of a previous surgery, but implants are not without risks. “The Food and Drug Administration and the major plastic surgery societies are all working together to do further research more closely looking into implant risks, which will help future patients receiving implants know they’re getting the safest approaches and technologies,” says Anne Peled, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon practicing aesthetic, reconstructive, and breast oncologic surgery in San Francisco. Although the FDA’s recommendation won’t yet be formally implemented, Dr. Peled says it’s worthy of the attention of doctors, manufacturers, and, most of all, survivors. In rare cases, people who receive implants may wind up with a form of lymphoma called breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), or a full-body condition called breast implant illness (though this hasn’t been well-studied yet), says Dr. Peled. “More common risks of implants include hardening over time, which is called capsular contracture; infection; rupture or deflation; and malpositioning,” she says. The FDA adds that the longer you’ve had implants, the more likely you are to experience complications. “Anyone who has had breast implants placed for breast augmentation or reconstruction should see their surgeon once a year to check on their implants.” —Anne Peled,

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October 23, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Selena Gomez not-so-famously proclaims in her not-so-famous 2010 song, “Intuition,” Sometimes it’s just gets so confusing / Feel like I don’t know what I’m doing / But I trust in my heart and in the end  / It turns out to be better than when it begins. She was on to something (even if not so many listeners got the message): Intuition is, by definition, a way of receiving information without conscious reasoning that can guide us toward positive people and things and away from the negative. The thing is, while our ancient ancestors relied on their inner knowing to, say, safeguard them from tiger ambushes and the like, modern society has made knowing how to trust your intuition a lot harder—and less socially acceptable. “The patriarchal system has created the idea that if it’s not logical, it’s nonsense,” says spiritual guide and healer Shaman Durek, author of Spirit Hacking. “We’re inundated with distractions, and we’ve moved away from that feminine aspect that holds the intuition—our ability to sense beyond our senses and know beyond our knowing.” But, Durek adds, intuition is something we all have within us, even if we don’t use it very often. The trick to connecting with it more closely? Getting out of your head and feeling into your body. Durek refers to this process of learning to trust your intuition as “calibrating your internal navigation system,” or INS for short. “Ancient shamans—who happened to be women—utilized this technique as

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