January 23, 2020 at 08:30PM by CWC In a perfect world, you’d eat deliciously healthy meals made with only the freshest, most nutritious ingredients three times a day. But this is reality, and sometimes lunch looks more like an on-the-go protein bar than a sit-down veggie bowl. That’s why Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD and author of The Better Period Food Solution, advocates for having a nutrition-supporting partner: the multivitamin. “Multivitamins cast a reliable safety net that helps catch and correct nutritional pitfalls,” Beckerman says. For those days when your meals don’t cover off on every nutrient, a supplement can help you hit the mark. “Multivitamins cast a reliable safety net that helps catch and correct nutritional pitfalls.” I know what you’re thinking: Can’t you get enough nutrients through your diet alone, even if you don’t eat like a wellness guru every day? According to Beckerman, even the most perfect diets will likely have nutritional holes. (Sorry to burst your healthy-eating bubble.) Hence the safety net illustration. Your healthy diet does the heavy lifting, but by adding a multivitamin you can rest assured you’re covered on the nutrients you need, no matter how busy life gets. Her go-to is Centrum® Adults Multivitamins, which contains vitamins and minerals, essential nutrients that help support her diet. To help really illustrate the point, we asked Beckerman how much food you’d need to eat to hit the recommended daily amounts of nutrients found in Centrum Multivitamins—so you can see how your diet and your multi
Day: January 23, 2020
Home births are risky. Why are more women choosing them?
January 23, 2020 at 09:30PM by CWC If you run with a wellness-minded crew, home births are likely something you’ve talked about with your friends—or seen an influencer discuss on social media. Because choosing to give birth at home is not necessarily a thing reserved for the most crunchy-granola of us anymore: A recent study published in the journal Birth reported that at-home births are on the rise. The study, which looked at U.S. birth certificate data over the course of 15 years, found that out-of-hospital births increased from 35,578 in 2004 to 62,228 in 2017 (the last year studied). That means that one out of every 62 births took place outside of a hospital in 2017. However, the medical community is not necessarily enthused by the uptick in out-of-hospital births—primarily because of safety concerns. One 2019 report found that 60 percent of home births between 2016 and 2018 were considered high-risk, and the American Council on Science and Health says the rate of infant deaths is triple for at-home births than hospital births. The medical community is adamant that giving birth in a hospital is the safest way to go. Yet in the deeply personal calculus that goes into choosing how and where to give birth, a small but growing number of women have decided that their best birthing option lies at home. Why? “Nature is not benevolent, it’s brutish” Amy Tuteur, MD, a former clinical instructor in obstetrics-gynecology at Harvard Medical School, is adamantly against home births. She says
If you use just one ingredient to treat chapped lips, derms say to make it this
January 23, 2020 at 08:00PM by CWC Lip balm is one of those products that is critical to have on hand at all times, particularly during the colder months. If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a bedside balm, a desk balm, and individual balms in every bag you own so that you’re covered whenever chapped lips may strike (which, at this time of year, is pretty much a guarantee). But having just any lip balm at the ready isn’t enough to combat those dry-lipped pinches—according to dermatologists, you’ve gotta have the right product in order to ensure you’re giving those lips the love they need. The one ingredient they say you should be looking for in a lip balm? Beeswax, or, for a vegan option, petroleum jelly. “They both retain and lock in moisture,” says Howard Sobel, MD, a New York City-based cosmetic dermatologist and founder of Sobel Skin Rx, who dubs these the absolute “best ingredients” for chapped lips. Both are occlusives, which means that they seal in any hydration in your lips and keep it from evaporating. While you’re in the process of perusing your labels, there’s also one ingredient you should avoid: menthol. The minty-flavored stuff may offer a nice cooling effect to your kisser, but in the process of doing that it actually winds up drying them out, thus doing the exact opposite of what you want a lip balm to do. You know how sometimes after you apply your balm, you suddenly want more,
Dame just launched a curved vibrator that’ll make your G-spot orgasm dreams come true
January 23, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC Dame Products’ co-founders Alexandra Fine and Janet Lieberman are on our list of wellness Changemakers for a number of reasons, and the company’s just-launched, easy-to-use, innovative sex toy provides even more evidence. The Dame Arc is the brand’s first G-spot-targeting sex toy, and it’s about to add potential for exploration and satisfaction to your pleasure game. The Arc, which comes in either berry pink or ice blue, looks like many wand vibrators currently available on the market upon first glance, but then you see its curved, soft-but-firm ridged tip and realize this actually isn’t your average toy. Retailing at $115, it’s an external and internal vibrator with a design that’s ideal for tapping that famously-tough-to-reach G-spot, which is located approximately a few inches deep on the front (or top) wall of the vagina. And while the Arc certain does optimize for G-spot stimulation, its goal isn’t to abandon the joy that a clitoral-focused external vibrator offers. Rather, the Arc is simply expanding on those pleasure possibilities. By surveying 1,000 members of its Dame Labs product research community, the brand found that 72 percent of vulva-owners report that they enjoy using internal toys for both clitoral and G-spot pleasure, thus calling for the innovation that ultimately became the Arc. With an easy-to-grip handle that allows you to really get creative with your positioning for stimulating your G-spot (or pretty much any erogenous zone that intrigues), the Arc lends itself to rocking, nestling, rotating and
The 6 healthiest cereals to always stock in your pantry, according to a dietitian
January 23, 2020 at 06:30PM by CWC Did anyone else find immeasurable joy in the mini boxes of Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes, and Cap’n Crunch as a kid? (It can’t just be me!) Now that you’re all grown up and shopping for cereal with the nutrition label in mind, it has probably come to your attention that the boxed breakfast choice—even in miniature—often packs a lot of added sugar. So to help you choose the healthiest box for you, we asked a dietitian to tell us what is the healthiest cereal for five of today’s most popular eating plans Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, a registered dietitian and author of The Better Period Food Solution, says that a few general guidelines can help you navigate the vast cereal aisle with your health in mind. “It’s a win when the ingredient list is on the shorter side, has more protein and fiber than sugar, doesn’t upset your stomach by overloading your gut with tough to breakdown sweeteners or sugar alcohols, is easy to find and most importantly, sets you up for dietary success throughout the day,” she says. So if you read that list and say check, check, check, check, you’re good to toss the one-step breakfast into your grocery cart. What is the healthiest cereal? A dietitian answers with the top 6, based on your preferred eating plan Photo: Magic Spoon Keto: MAGIC SPOON Magic Spoon’s colorful boxes reflect just how flavorful the cereal is. And Beckerman says that for keto-eaters,
Credit cards can actually be great for your financial wellness—if you use them responsibly
January 23, 2020 at 06:00PM by CWC I didn’t receive a robust financial education from my parents while growing up, but my mom did offer one piece of advice that stuck with me: Credit cards are like guys who post shirtless mirror selfies on dating apps. That is, they’re to be avoided at all costs. I’ve often wished that I hadn’t ignored her, given the amount of cash I’ve lost to interest payments since I got my first swipeable piece of non-debit plastic in college. But many financial experts would say I actually wasn’t being irresponsible by opening my first line of credit. Because while credit card debt may well be a financial buzzkill, the benefits of credit cards can be valuable for leveling up your financial wellness, so long as you use them wisely. “Credit cards are like other financial products and tools—they are neutral, neither good nor bad,” says Amanda Clayman, certified financial therapist. Of course, plastic does come with some well-recognized risks: Not only can cards carry high interest and fees, but they can tempt an overspending habit and make slipping into debt feel a bit too easy. According to Clayman, it’s because of these risks that many people have relegated credit cards to the “swipe left” category. However, Clayman suggests that before writing them off, it would be wise to learn about the power credit cards wield when it comes to improving your financial wellness. “Rules of thumb are helpful when we need to make quick,
The Grammys gift bag is packed with wellness goodies—here’s what’s inside
January 23, 2020 at 06:00PM by CWC As if attending the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards wasn’t cool enough—the glitz! the glamour!—there’s now another reason why scoring a seat would be the ultimate win: You get a Grammys gift bag that’s jam-packed with wellness goodies. Now, don’t get me wrong. Awards show gift bags are always impressively loaded with lavish items that add up to thousands of dollars. But this year has reached peak wellness with a handful of items aimed at your physical and mental health. From a self-watering planter that will fulfill your urban garden dreams to a virtual therapy subscription, these are the things award show attendees are going home with (that you might want to grab for yourself, too). The best wellness goodies in this year’s Grammys gift bag 1. HFactor Hydrogen Infused Pure Drinking Water, $15 for pack of 6 No one at the Grammys is going to be lacking energy with this hydrogen-infused water that’s not only said to help increase athletic performance and reduce inflammation from exercise, but also work as a caffeine-free pick-me-up and hydration-booster. 2. Muse meditation headband, $350 Meditation is easy with this comfy headband. It has sensors that provide real-time feedback on your brain activity, heart rate, breathing, and body movements, all of which can help you meditate like a pro. 3. Talkspace subscription, $260-$396/month If you don’t like the idea of seeing a therapist in person, try Talkspace. The Grammys gift bag contains a subscription to the online
Here’s what kind of rebellious Aquarius you are, according to your moon sign
January 23, 2020 at 05:00PM by CWC Aquarians (those born between January 19 and February 18) are known to be highly independent, a little bit quirky, and with a tendency to spend a lot of time in their own head. In other words, they can be tough to figure out. But when you add in the other nuances of their zodiac chart, like an Aquarius’ moon sign, it becomes straight-up impossible to put these visionary souls into a box. A person’s moon sign is the astrological sign that the moon was in when they were born, and it sheds light on the way that person experiences and processes their innermost emotions. This is an important cosmic placement to consider when striving to better understand any person’s chart, but especially so with Aquarians, who often don’t put their feelings on display. “Aquarius is an air sign that rules the intellect,” says astrologer and women’s empowerment coach Natalia Benson. “It’s not often watery and emotive, or even fiery and passionate—it’s more cool, calm, and collected. Aquarians have a little more of a disconnected relationship to their emotions because they seek to intellectually understand them versus really feel them.” A moon sign is important to consider when striving to better understand any person’s chart, but especially so with Aquarians, who often don’t put their feelings on display. Given that the moon changes signs about every two and a half days, there are 12 different combinations of sun signs and moon signs that an
We asked Well+Good readers their thoughts on recovery—here’s what they had to say
January 23, 2020 at 04:26PM by CWC Recovery is a hot topic among fitness folk: What does “active recovery” really look like? How many rest days should you take anyway? Is there really a right way to foam roll? The questions around this should-be-rejuvenating part of your workout routine never stop. For a deeper look into the confusion, we teamed up with UPGRAID, an inflammation-fighting supplement that uses only organic ingredients to help manage soreness, to ask our readers how they really feel about recovery. And you shared everything from how it fits into the rest of your routine, to how you spend that sacred rest day (or two), and your questions about making it work better for you and your workouts. Want to know how your recovery routine compares to other Well+Good readers? (It’s not a competition, promise.) Keep reading for all the intel—plus gain some useful tips on how to take your post-workout life to the next level, because everyone, even you all-stars, could benefit from a little more R&R time. Scroll down for 3 takeaways on how Well+Good readers approach recovery day, and what you can incorporate into your own routine. Photo: UPGRAID Four percent of readers don’t take part in recovery at all Off the bat, everyone is pretty split on this discussion. Nearly 34 percent of you always prioritize recovery in your workout routine, 29 percent do so half the time, and 32 percent don’t prioritize it nearly enough—leaving four percent of you who absolutely
Here’s where the 6 leading democratic candidates stand on healthcare
January 23, 2020 at 04:00PM by CWC February 3 is a big day, politically speaking: It’s the date of the Iowa caucuses, which marks the official kickoff of primary election season. As states prepare to decide the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees, all eyes are on the vast field of Democratic candidates, which is now down to 12 contenders. (Sixteen others have dropped out of the race, while only two nominees are challenging President Trump for the Republican nomination.) Clearly, there are many things at stake in this election—the environment, gun safety, and impending military conflict, to name a few—but recent polls have shown that health care is the issue that’s most important to voters in 2020. When you look at the Democratic candidates’ stances on health care reform, there are several things they have in common. Just about everyone wants to reverse the Trump administration’s attacks on the Affordable Care Act, while reversing the “gag rule” that bans government-funded health-care clinics from referring patients to abortion providers and, in effect, restoring funding to Planned Parenthood. Nearly all of the Democratic candidates are also pledging to make health care and prescription drugs more accessible and affordable. But their specific proposals for doing so are varied, and the most hotly debated aspects of their plans revolve around health insurance. Some candidates support a lower-cost, government-run insurance option that would be open to every American and exist alongside private insurance. Others are in favor of a single payer healthcare plan like the