October 16, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC You can use a lot of fluffy, abstract terms to describe your ideal complexion. For instance: I would like my skin to look as glowy as an alien’s (IDK what glowy actually means, but I want it). I also prefer my complexion to be happy and calm, not irritable (my mood is enough for that). One pillar of good skin that could actually use more fleshing out in hopes of achieving it? Strong skin. Yet most people slather on products to solve problems, like brightening dark spots or squelching breakouts. Strong skin, though, should be the baseline that you’re aiming for to have a healthy complexion. “Everybody wants strong skin,” says Ashish Bhatia, MD, FAAD, dermatologist and associate professor of clinical dermatology at Northwestern University. “It’s not just that your skin looks good, but that it functions the way it should.” It’s a lot like having a strong skin barrier—another important aspect of good skin—but overall skin strength is more than that. “The barrier is one of the components of it, but the skin has two main layers,” says Dr. Bhatia, who points out that there’s the skin barrier, which acts as your first defense from outer elements and keeps moisture in, but also the layer with your hair follicles, sweat glands, and oil glands. “These need to function well, or else you’ll have issues like acne,” he says. Holistic facialist Tammy Fender thinks of “strong” skin as having “enhanced immunity,” meaning it’s protected
Month: October 2019
Study Shows Men Still Feel Judged When They Talk About Their Feelings
October 16, 2019 at 01:03PM Most men know talking about their feelings is good for them—but still feel like they can’t. Continue Reading… Author Kelly Gonsalves | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
5 Things You Shouldn’t Do With Your Houseplants During Fall
October 16, 2019 at 12:19PM And what to do instead. Continue Reading… Author Emma Loewe | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
These are the 4 golden rules for fighting inflammation, according to doctors
October 16, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC Keeping chronic inflammation far, far away is pretty much everyone’s top wellness goal. While low-levels of short-term inflammation can actually benefit the body and protect it from infection, prolonged inflammation can lead to a whole slew of health problems, ranging from the frustrating (acne!) to the more serious (like chronic disease and autoimmune disorders). Inflammation is complex, and chronic inflammation can be caused (or exacerbated) by a variety of factors, from diet to stress levels and other lifestyle factors. So what can the average person do about it? Functional medicine expert and The Inflammation Spectrum author Will Cole, DC and physician and How Not To Die author Michael Greger, MD, share their best inflammation-fighting tips that they wish *everyone* would follow. Keep reading for their advice. 1. Try an anti-inflammatory diet While you may have to make some dietary tweaks depending on what does and doesn’t work for your body, Dr. Greger says following an anti-inflammatory diet (read: limited on potentially inflammatory ingredients like wheat, dairy, and sugar)is a great place to start if you have no idea how to eat. “This eating plan was developed by researchers who did thousands of experiments where they fed people a wide variety of foods and measured their markers of inflammation,” Dr. Greger says. What does putting this diet into practice look like? It means filling up primarily on leafy greens, healthy fats, and produce high in antioxidants, and avoiding processed foods. 2. Fill up on
How To Get Access To Holistic Practitioners No Matter Where You Live
October 16, 2019 at 11:16AM Frustrated with ever-shrinking doctors’ visits, treating symptoms rather than root causes, and feeling generally discouraged after seeing your doctor? Unfortunately, you aren’t alone. More and more Americans are seeking out holistic therapies and integrative doctors—59 million Americans, to be exact. Holistic practitioners—a blanket term used here encompassing naturopaths, acupuncturists, integrative psychotherapists, integrative M.D.s, doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO), chiropractors, and more—are health care professionals who take a whole-body approach to health and well-being. Why see a holistic practitioner. Holistic practitioners are pretty awesome. They work to get to the root cause of your issues, not just treating the symptoms. They spend more time with you—on average alternative medicine consultations last 90 minutes versus just 18 minutes with conventional doctors. They have a reputation for listening; in holistic medicine, the doctor is your collaborator, working with you to identify problems and create solutions. During a consultation, they will ask you about your diet, lifestyle, sleep, stress levels, supplements, and overall health history while conventional docs might not even give you a chance to explain why you are there. It’s easy to see why you would seek out the personalized patient-centric care of a holistic practitioner. But unless you live in a big city (and even then, tbh) it can be hard to find one in your area. And once you find someone, how do you know if they are legit? If you thought navigating the conventional medical system was hard, this is a whole new ballgame. By definition, alternative practitioners are on the
Do Exogenous Ketones Actually Speed Up Ketosis? Here’s Science Says
October 16, 2019 at 10:04AM Are they too good to be true? Continue Reading… Author Vincent M. Pedre, M.D. | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
How to marry strength training and yoga so you can be stretchy-strong
October 16, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC Stretching and strength training are like the sister-and-law and grandpa you don’t want sitting together at family gatherings. That is, you love them… but separately. Not every school of fitness thought thinks the two modalities should be separated, however. Anabolic stretching, a fairly new way to train your muscles, asserts that you can get strong and stretched at one fell swoop. Peter Tzemis, trainer and founder of TzemisFitness, says that anabolic stretching essentially “bulletproofs your body” by replacing static stretching with a more active alternative. Simply add a minimal weight to any strength training or stretching posture and the benefits change entirely. “The key thing is that you’re not really ‘stretching’ the way you do with most static stretching. You’re resisting the load in the stretched position,” he says. For example, imagine you’re grabbing two (light!) dumbbells and lying down on a bench for a set of dumbbell flies. Only, rather than repeating a certain number of reps, extend the weight to either side of your body and hold them there until exhaustion. Two things will happen at once: your muscles will activate and you’ll feel a stretch as a result of the pull of the muscle. Or, complete a deadlift variation and feel the stretch and burn in your arms and hamstrings simultaneously. The modality makes your workout a twofer. Phil Timmons, a program manager at Blink Fitness, says that anabolic stretching falls under the umbrella of “isometric concentration”—or exercise that involves static holds.
Experts unpack all the difficult decisions breast cancer survivors must make when getting reconstructive surgery
October 16, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC When Paige More had a preventative double mastectomy at 24, the main thing on her mind was survival. She’d recently discovered that she had the BRCA1 gene mutation, which meant she faced an 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer—a disease that had taken several of her close family members. Put simply, she was terrified. So when the time came to meet with a plastic surgeon and talk breast reconstruction, her emotions were running so high that there were a lot of questions she didn’t even think to ask. “I went into my surgeon and they said, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ They presented it to me like it was my only option,” says More, a women’s health activist and co-founder of breast cancer support community The Breasties. She ended up having breast implants placed below her chest muscles—a common procedure for post-mastectomy patients—but wasn’t aware of how much physical discomfort they would end up causing her, especially during workouts. “I went into it thinking I would have perfect foobs [Breastie shorthand for “fake boobs”], and that’s just not the case,” she says. “I still have a lot of moments where it’s painful to move a certain way, and I can’t do certain workouts because my implants are too far apart.” To be fair, research shows that disappointment over breast reconstruction is rare—most women under 60 who have undergone the process are just as satisfied with their breasts post-reconstruction as they
There are 3 stages of a relationship—and 1 where most couples get stuck
October 16, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC It’s easy to forget that there are stages of a relationship until the moment you trip and fall face-first out of the honeymoon phase. You know the feeling, right? For some amount of time, no one and nothing can touch your love, because your romance is a beautiful, sparkling, Baz Luhrmann jukebox musical. Then you see your partner’s bedroom and learn they still have a twin-size bed, or something equally appalling. All of a sudden, you realize, “Oh, wait, everyone dies in those Luhrmann movies.” Out of the honeymoon phase you go immediately, and into something quite a bit trickier. To quote one of those doomed Lurhmann flicks, love is a many splendored thing. And one of the key elements to finding, experiencing, and—most importantly—keeping love is navigating the hard stuff with empathy, communication, and patience. Understanding the three major stages a relationship is also helpful so all parties involved can have a sense of what to expect and anticipate, good and bad. Below, get expert tips for surviving and thriving in all stages of a relationship. Stage 1: Infatuation and the honeymoon period Are cartoon hearts floating above your heads? Fireworks exploding outside your bedroom? You’ve made it three or four dates with the same person, so what else could this be other than true love? Or, at least, true lust? During this phase, hormones like norepinephrine and dopamine (yes, the intoxicating happiness-churning dopamine) surge through you. You’re ecstatic, excited, and aroused. During
Trader Joe’s Dukkah is the healthy spice that’s even better than Everything Bagel seasoning
October 16, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC To say people are passionate about Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel seasoning is an understatement. The blend—black and white sesame seeds, sea salt flakes, poppy seeds, and minced garlic—is a cult favorite for a reason. In the flick of a wrist, it transforms a bland dish into something flavorful. Eggs, fish, chicken, even waffles…the possibilities are endless. What could be better? Dukkah, according to Trader Joe’s VP of marketing Matt Sloan. On the latest episode of his podcast, Inside Trader Joe’s, Sloan goes so far as to say it’s even better than Everything But The Bagel seasoning. Bold words, my friend. Bold words. “I think dukkah is a better product,” he says. “I think dukkah is more versatile, less salty, and has far more interesting flavors.” If you’ve never heard of dukkah, it’s a blend—similar to the Everything seasoning—made of nuts and spices, typically sesame seeds, coriander, curcumin, salt, and pepper. The inclusion of the curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) mean that this spice blend contains anti-inflammatory properties. How to use Trader Joe’s dukkah 1. Cooked with Green beans “[With] just simple preparation, green beans tossed with the dukkah, is just a whole new version of kind of boring green beans that are delicious,” says Sloan. 2. Blended with olive oil If you’re looking for a Mediterranean diet-approved snack using dukkah, simply blend it with olive oil and use it for dipping with a crusty bread. Sometimes the best uses really