January 14, 2020 at 09:00PM by CWC We all became infatuated by personality tests in 2019, but they’re about to expand beyond the realm of Myers-Briggs and Enneagram. New research indicates you have an aging personality, or “ageotype,” that determines how your body changes over the course of time. The study, published in Nature Medicine, looked at 106 healthy individuals age 29 to 75. Over the course of two to three years, researchers used blood, saliva, and urine tests, as well as genetic analyses, microbiome inspections and more to find four distinct ageotypes or “personal aging markers”: immunity, metabolic, liver dysregulation and kidney dysregulation. And this is really just the start—researchers posit that future science could uncover other types (like ones associated with the brain or heart). “It’s like a car,” Michael Snyder, PhD, co-author of the study and director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford University, tells Well+Good. “When your car gets older, all parts age, but some parts—such as your transmission—go out of whack first and you want to identify those and ideally repair them.” If someday you find that you’re a cardiovascular ager, for example, you might make selective interventions to improve it by exercising regularly and watching your cholesterol, he says. Of course, ageotypes aren’t the medical community’s first attempt to strip down the complicated human experience of aging. Theories like telomere shortening and senescence-associated secreted proteins have looked at the aging body as a whole. Dr. Snyder’s team is the first to
Day: January 14, 2020
A nutritionist’s top 5 all-natural foods for better sleep—and why they work
January 14, 2020 at 08:00PM by CWC When it comes to pre-bedtime snacks (and late-night dinners), some foods are known to be sleep disruptors while others are linked to drifting off more soundly. Our culture has long turned to wine or over-the-counter meds as sleep aids, but the truth is, they aren’t the best solutions for helping your body get that all-important REM sleep. (Especially booze—sleep experts are not fans of nightcaps.) As for what actually works when it comes to foods for sleep, Well+Good Wellness Council member and nutritionist Kimberly Snyder, CDN, has a few tricks up her sleeve. Considering that her clients include Drew Barrymore, Hilary Duff, and Kerry Washington (to name a few), she’s definitely used to working with majorly busy women, giving them the intel on what foods will promote both good sleep and provide them the energy they need to power through their days. She recently shared a graphic highlighting her five all-natural sleep aids, four foods and one nighttime beverage. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kimberly Snyder (@_kimberlysnyder) on Jan 10, 2020 at 2:46pm PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js The best foods for sleep, according to certified dietitian and nutritionist 1. pumpkin seeds Pumpkin seeds are a nutritional powerhouse because they’re full of vitamins A and C, with a healthy amount of fiber. Snyder eats them at night because of their high magnesium content. “Magnesium is a calming nutrient, linked to better sleep,” she says. Eat a handful of pumpkin seeds
How to stop a bad horoscope from derailing your day, according to a psychological astrologer
January 14, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC I recently realized that whenever Co-Star gives me an ominous reading for the day, tipping me off to the likelihood that I could expect “Trouble in Sex and Love,” I grow super anxious about the hours ahead, anticipating what kind of awful trouble is in store and cosmically out of my control. Sure, perhaps the short-term solution to stop my spiral of catastrophic thinking might be delete my Co-Star app, so that’s what I did. But that alone doesn’t halt the will of the universe from serving me a bad horoscope prediction for the day when that’s what’s on the planetary docket. And since every sign of the zodiac will get a rough horoscope every now and then, it’s key to understand what to do about it. So if your horoscope prediction is gloomy, how can you go about your day without being overwhelmingly fearful and fatalistic? According to psychological astrologer Jennifer Freed, PhD, author of Use Your Planets Wisely, the first step for adjusting your outlook is adjusting your semantic habits. Dr. Freed says to banish the word “bad” when it comes to the notion of “bad horoscope” or “bad cycle” or “a bad time to love unconventionally right now.” “There is no bad,” she says. “It’s called adverse, or challenging. So there’s an adverse time ahead of you.” Likewise, she says, even in the most challenging of astrological cycles, there are no explicitly bad things because all features are opportunities for
Real talk: Do any of these new hair loss supplements actually work?
January 14, 2020 at 06:06PM by CWC On average you might lose 100 strands of hair per day. But what do you do when you’re losing more than usual? Research shows that up to 45 percent of women experience hair loss in their lifetime, and many before the age of 30. Everything from stress to acne medication can lead to thinning. Luckily, a handful of hair loss supplements out there actually work, according to dermatologists. “I don’t want you to panic—I want you to know you’re not alone,” says board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, in an episode of Well+Good’s YouTube series Dear Derm. (She deals with alopecia-related hair loss herself.) “There are a lot of solutions, and there is definitely hope.” Topical treatments for hair loss Topical solutions like Women’s Rogaine ($23) and Nioxin Hair Regrowth Treatment ($28) work by thickening the hair, says Dr. Gohara. The active ingredient in these solutions is minoxidil, which New York City-based dermatologist Dendy Engelman, MD, says isn’t new or sexy, but it’s very effective. “Minoxidil’s mechanism of action is believed to be due to an effect on the calcium channels in the hair cells. Minoxidil increases the capillary blood flow to the dermis of the skin where the follicle resides—promotes oxygen, blood, and nutrients to the hair follicles—to make them stronger and help re-grow hair,” she says. Oral hair loss supplements Hair loss can also be symptomatic of nutritional deficiencies, says NYC-based integrative nutrition health coach Maria Marlowe. “Deficiencies in iron, zinc, and biotin,
Sage is the deodorant ingredient that doesn’t just cover sweat, it squelches it altogether
January 14, 2020 at 06:00PM by CWC When you want rid your life of something negative, reaching for sage is practically wellness 101 (just ask my roommate how many crappy ex-boyfriends I’ve smudged away in the last year). But while we know the herb is great for zapping bad energy, there’s one other bad thing in life it’s great for banishing, too: body odor. Scan the deodorant aisles, and you’ll notice that sage has taken up residence on a lot of labels of late. Sweat, itself, is actually odorless, but when it comes into contact with the bacteria under your arms, it starts to smell. Research has found that sage can effectively help diminish that bacteria, stopping you from stinking, which means that instead of just masking B.O., it’s actually helping to stop the smell altogether. According to pros, this makes it a powerhouse pick for anyone looking to make the switch from an antiperspirant (that actually stops you from sweating) to a deodorant (though, I’ll remind you that there’s no clear proven link that aluminum is bad for you). “Sage addresses the cause of the bad smell and may prevent it before it even appears,” says Gretchen Frieling, MD, a Boston board-certified dermatopathologist. “Other standard deodorants mask the smell, yet fail to deal with the cause of the odor and could also clog pores and dehydrate the skin.” Sage is also rich in calcium and vitamin A, she adds, and it works as an antioxidant, antiviral, and anti-fungal remedy.
75% of vulva-owners will have painful sex in their life—here’s what to do if that includes you
January 14, 2020 at 05:00PM by CWC Moan-making. Spine-chilling. Sheet-twisting. Mind-blowing. Sounds like the stuff of an especially exciting sexual experience, right? For a number of reasons, though, those adjectives aren’t always an orgasmic given. In fact, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) reports that 75 percent of people with vulvas will have sex in their lifetime that’s just the opposite: pain-inducing. The organization outlines a number of reasons pain during sex, or dyspareunia, can happen, like endometriosis, stress, and lack of desire. But is it possible that the size of your partner’s penis can be the issue, and that it’s just too big? Theoretically, a penis can be too big for a vaginal canal, says Kiana Reeves somatic sex expert and educator. “There are different depths and shapes of vaginal canals, so it’s possible anatomically for a partner to be a tight fit.” If this is the case, though, all is not lost. “The vagina does stretch depending on the size of the penis,” Sherry A. Ross, MD, previously said. “But, it may take time, patience, KY Jelly, and open communication.” But (but!), Reeves caveats, the majority of the time, penis size is not the reason you feel as though your partner doesn’t “fit.” Usually, she says, it’s an underlying issue, like those outlined by the ACOG and others including hypertonic (or tight) pelvic-floor muscles, uterine or bladder prolapse, scarring from traumatic and/or non-lubricated sexual experiences, post-birth pelvic-floor changes, scar tissue, vaginismus, and vulvodynia. Regardless of whether
Harness your body’s energy-giving ki passages to help fight stress
January 14, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC People may throw around the word “burnout” like it’s a fleeting feeling, but the truth is, it’s a legitimate medical condition that affects up to 44 percent of full-time workers in the U.S. Some signs you may be suffering from burnout: inability to focus, bouts of depression or anxiety, and feeling completely exhausted. According to wellness coach Samantha Acton—whose book Fuel Your Fire: 200 Ways to Instantly Beat Burnout and Reignite Your Passion ($11) is out now—one reason why burnout leads to exhaustion is because it traps energy inside the body. This is why, she says, maintaining proper energy flow is important and one way to do this is by opening up your ki passages. “Ki is the life-force or living energy that connects to all there is and sustains your life breath,” she says. “The Chinese refer to it as ‘chi’ and Hindus call it ‘prana.’” Acton says that excessive stress depletes energy—physically, mentally, and emotionally—which can make someone more vulnerable to illness. “To maintain long-term mental, physical, and emotional wellness you need the vital life-force energy to flow through you in a balanced way,” she says. Here, Acton, along with board-certified acupuncturist and oriental medicine expert Walda Laurenceau, L.Ac, explain more about what ki passages are and how they play a role in beating burnout. What are ki passages? Whether they’re referred to as ki passages, chi, or prana, Laurenceau explains that it refers to energy flow in the body. Maintaining proper
Ready to stop caring what people people think? Here’s how to do it in 5 steps
January 14, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC Right up there with the likes of public speaking, mortality, and rejection is another common anxiety-fueler: the fear of what others think. While it can show up in many forms—like, curbing us from speaking our truth, deciding what we do (and don’t) post on social media, and factoring into big-deal life decisions like which jobs to seek—it often holds us back from going after our most sincere goals. Or worse, it can prevent us from being our authentic selves. But before learning how to not care what people think, it’s key to first understand why so many of us do, and to a strong and enduring extent. Put simply, we are wired to crave a sense of belonging and safety. “In ancient history, we belonged to tribes that ensured our survival as a species,” says holistic career and mind-set coach Amina AlTai. “Belonging to a group made life less dangerous. Our primitive brain is still connected to that idea that we need to belong to a group and stay in their good graces in order to survive.” “Our primitive brain is still connected to that idea that we need to belong to a group and stay in their good graces in order to survive.” —mind-set coach Amina AlTai While this need to be liked and accepted may have served humans way back when, it now often robs us of our freedom to be ourselves. “When we are so focused on being liked or
I’m a pro stretcher, and this is the best way to decompress always-tight hips
January 14, 2020 at 01:00PM by CWC When it comes to making sure your body is loose and limber, you can rely on all sorts of recovery methods to do the job, and one of the easiest, quite simply, involves hanging out. Because we sit all day, every day, our hips get overly tight, and continually need to be loosened up or “decompressed“. An easy way to do this on the reg is called “leg dangling”. “People live active lifestyles that consist of prolonged sitting, standing, walking, and working out, all of which can increase pressure on your hip joints,” says Jeremy Crow, PT, director of clinical services at Spear Physical Therapy. “If someone is experiencing any hip pain, you can find pain relief in decompressing, or ‘tractioning’ your hips.” This helps to neutralize the joint pressure and decrease the muscle guarding to boost recovery and help with your mobility (AKA: your ability to move more easily in life). So how do you dangle? Find a surface that’s about hip height and sit one leg on it, letting the other drop into space beneath you. “It’s important to relax and breathe through the exercise, allowing gravity to unload and decompress your hips,” says Spear, who recommends starting out with 30-second holds in an upright posture. “Afterward, take a break by assuming a normal standing position for about one minute, then repeat leg dangling three to five more times.” If you want to make the decompressing stretch more intense, he says
Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day? An RD sets the record straight
January 14, 2020 at 10:00AM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tF5DUo1GRc] Do you remember those PSA-like conversations your parents and teachers would have with you as a kid, repeating the importance of eating a well-rounded breakfast in order to have the best day possible? Now that you’re the one in charge of your morning eats, you have to ask yourself: Is breakfast important to how the rest of your day pans out? In the latest You Versus Food episode, Tracy Lockwood Beckerman investigates this age-old claim to reveal the truth. “All right call in the myth-busters, because I hate to break it to you, but no meal is the most important meal of the day,” Beckerman says. (Is your 12-year-old mind blown or what?) “Having well-rounded, nutritious meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with healthy snacks in between is vital to our body’s well-being.” And to think we’ve been saving the spotlight for breakfast when lunch has been a superstar this whole time. “I hate to break it to you, but no meal is the most important meal of the day.” But that doesn’t mean you should quit avo toast any time soon. “Breakfast quite literally breaks the fast we had overnight, it replenishes your supply of glucose, provides essential nutrients to keep your energy levels up throughout the day, and also helps to jumpstart your metabolism,” Beckerman says. Anyone who’s skipped breakfast can attest to the brain fog that follows—and it’s no joke. On top of trying get in a proper