Have You Tried Simmering? Build More Sexual Energy Into Your Day With This

January 17, 2019 at 08:00PM Try “simmering.” Continue Reading… Author Stephen Snyder, M.D. | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue We get it: Between work, workouts, the latest phase of your KonMari clean-out, and all the other things you’ve got going on in your life, it can be difficult and just exhausting to squeeze in time for a whole sex session. For many couples, sometimes the very idea of trying to get into a sexy mood at the end of a long day can feel defeating, let alone trying to actually get the deed done. But sexual energy isn’t frivolous. Sexual energy is creative energy, it’s a fresh breath of joy and excitement amid hectic days, and it makes important deposits in your relationship bank as a couple. And contrary to popular belief, accessing this sexual energy doesn’t always require actual sex or orgasms. Sometimes all you need is just a little burst of arousal to get those good feels flowing. We love this “simmering” method from sex and relationship therapist Dr. Stephen Snyder’s book Love Worth Making: How to Have Ridiculously Great Sex in a Long-Lasting Relationship, which was just released in paperback this week. A man is about to leave the house in the morning to go to work. Kissing his wife goodbye, he buries his face in her hair to inhale her scent. His arms circle her waist to pull her closer. Her body molds to his, and they breathe together for a moment, both feeling

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Break out the Polaroids, because accessing happy memories could help stave off depression

January 17, 2019 at 02:33PM by CWC I have a pile of Instax snapshots I pull out when I’m down—little reference cards to remind me, “You are loved.” When you’re depressed, it’s a message that can easily get muffled in the mental din of unbearable negativity. So color me intrigued by a new study from the University of Cambridge and University College London, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, that showed recalling positive memories could decrease risk of depression in young people. The study asked nearly 500 adolescents (average age 14) who were at risk of depression to call up specific memories (both positive and negative) by responding to certain prompts. Then, with these happy thoughts fresh in their mind, they were interviewed about negative events they experienced in the past 12 months and reported any symptoms of depression or negative self-thoughts they’d had in the past two weeks. Their morning cortisol levels, which the researchers used to measure stress, were also collected. When the experiment was conducted again one year later, the researchers found that, after recalling positive memories, the teens had “lower morning cortisol and fewer negative self-cognitions during low mood.” “Our work suggests that ‘remembering the good times’ may help build resilience to stress and reduce vulnerability to depression in young people,” said Adrian Dahl Askelund, the study’s lead author. “This is important [because] we already know that it is possible to train people to come up with specific positive memories. This could be a beneficial way of

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Nutritional yeast is the answer to cheese-loving vegans’ prayers—but is it healthy?

January 17, 2019 at 01:47PM by CWC When I first encountered nutritional yeast, I was seriously impressed. As a new vegan who was still trying to fight off cravings for cheese, it offered a similar taste with just a few sprinkles. But in terms of health benefits it purports to offer, the flakes seemed too good to be true. Nutritional yeast—that’s “nooch” for short!—is often a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but unlike living yeast that’s used to make bread and beer, this variety is deactivated and goes great on popcorn. A single tablespoon contains about 65 percent of your recommended daily value of vitamin B12 when fortified and about 4 grams of plant-based protein that boasts all nine essential amino acids. (I’ve always got a half-empty bottle of Bragg’s seasoning in my pantry.) Once you’ve tried nooch, you might be tempted to dump an entire cup of it onto a serving of broccoli—but don’t! “As with any food, if you really overdo it, you run the risk of exceeding the tolerable upper intake level for the nutrients it contains. A tablespoon or two a day is plenty,” explains Amy Gorin, RDN, the owner of Amy Gorin Nutrition. “There are no downsides to nutritional yeast if you’re eating it in moderation. Per tablespoon, it typically only contains up to 10 milligrams of sodium and provides many nutrients, making it a great option for those who are looking to get a cheesy, savory flavor without the saturated fat content of cheese.” Now that you know why nutritional yeast

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OK TMI…my tampon is stuck. What now?

January 17, 2019 at 01:43PM by CWC As period horror stories go, there are few things more panic-inducing than realizing that you’ve got a tampon lodged where the sun don’t shine—and no matter how you try, you just. can’t. get. it. out. Maybe it’s because you forgot about the tampon and inserted another one, pushing the original one to the way-way-back of your vag. Or perhaps you didn’t remember to take it out at the end of your cycle and, over time, it shimmied into a position where you can’t reach the string. Whatever the reason, it’s distressing AF. But doctors say there’s no reason to lose your cool if this happens to you. (It’s so common there’s even a technical term for it—a “retained tampon.”) “The good news is, the vagina is a finite space, so a tampon does not have many places to go,” says Natasha Bhuyan, MD, a family medicine provider at One Medical in Phoenix, AZ. “It cannot move up higher and higher into the abdomen. It just remains somewhere in the vagina.” In other words, it’s not going tunnel through your cervix and get lost in your uterus or anything. (Phew.) That doesn’t rule out other complications, though. Dr. Bhuyan says that if a tampon gets stuck and stays there for too long, it can cause an infection. “Many people don’t initially realize they have a tampon retained in their vagina until they develop symptoms,” says Dr. Bhuyan. “They might notice a strong vaginal odor,

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