February 10, 2020 at 11:00PM by CWC One of the best ways to get yourself to eat more veggies is sneaking them into your meals, and there are endless ways to do it. You can mix cauliflower into your smoothies, use shredded zucchini in casseroles, and—my new personal favorite—make a broccoli pesto recipe for all your pasta dishes. While typical basil and pine nut pesto is always a win, using broccoli to create the creamy sauce can take your dinner to an entirely new level. Lately, the cruciferous veggie has been everywhere, pushing cauliflower to the wayside as its becoming the star ingredient in pizza crusts, hummus, frothy broccolattes (I’m not joking… it’s a thing!), meatless popcorn chicken, and more. And that’s great news, because it’s super good for you. A helping of broccoli contains 3.9 grams of fiber per stalk, not to mention folate, vitamins A, B6, C, and K, and antioxidants. If you’re not a fan of eating broccoli floret by floret, that’s where this pesto comes in. You can reap the benefits of the old-school veggie by simply blending it up with wholesome ingredients like garlic, basil, and olive oil. That’s exactly what Jeanine Donofrio, the food blogger behind Love & Lemons, did for a topping that pairs perfectly with al dente spaghetti. If you want to try her broccoli pesto for yourself, you’re in luck: She shared the whole recipe with us below. One bite in and you’ll see the green veggie in an entirely new
Day: February 10, 2020
Instagram just made your feed (and your scrolling habit) way better for your mental health
February 10, 2020 at 09:05PM by CWC Do you think you’re a social media hoarder? Are you planning to unfollow Instagram followers or accounts that make you feel like garbage? Of course you are. The entire point of social media is that we rarely follow people who make us feel better. Luckily Instagram has rolled out a new feature that helps you do a proper cleansing. Here’s how it works: 1. Open up the Instagram app. 2. Select “Following” and 3. Click on “Least Interacted With” I tried it out, and it definitely made me do some soul searching. Sure, it told me that I don’t give the Lisa Frank Instagram as many likes as I should. (I need that neon burst of energy in my life.) But it also offered a starting point for making cuts. And wait, there’s more! When you make moves to unfollow Instagram followers, it might prompt you to unfollow similar accounts. For once, that’s some algorithmic genius on Instagram’s part. Getting fresh eyes on the accounts you interact with least and subsequently unfollow allows us to be more mindful about and intentional with our social media use. It can help curb unhealthy “lurking” habits of those people we hate-follow (because come on, we’re all adults) and allow for room for good friends and good dogs. Most importantly, doing that kind of cleansing can do your mental health a big favor. It’s worth reiterating that unfollowing others is true self-care. Social media impacts our self-esteem
250 million roses are sold every Valentine’s Day—here’s how to make sure you’re buying ethically-sourced blooms
February 10, 2020 at 08:21PM by CWC As someone with at least a casual interest in wellness, there are likely a few questions you ask yourself when perusing the grocery store aisles. Checking the label to see if something is organic, where it’s sourced from, and if the packaging is sustainable have (thankfully) become more common when it comes to buying food, skin-care, and cleaning products. But there’s one section of the grocery store that’s so far escaped the question game: flowers. I admit, even as someone whose job it is to write about wellness, I’ve rarely given much thought to flower sourcing. Typically, my eyes go straight to the prettiest bouquet, I debate if the price fits my budget, and if it does, I add them to my cart. I honestly never really gave much thought into where the flowers come from or who is picking them. So when Whole Foods invited me to find out first-hand and visit the rose farms in Ecuador where they source some of their flowers, I said yes. As it turns out, just like with farm workers who source our food, not all flower workers are treated ethically or fairly. But the good news is there are certifications that clue conscious shoppers in on companies that do. Keep reading to learn about the different certifications to be aware of (no matter where you shop) and what these programs mean to flower workers. Photo: Erin Lubin Photography What different flower sourcing certifications mean Just
The Oscars proved that recycled fashion is *the* sustainable trend of red carpet style
February 10, 2020 at 07:31PM by CWC “Shopping your stash”—aka making use out of things you already own in an effort to buy less—has become a stronghold of sustainability. We’ve seen it happening in our beauty cabinets, in our closets, and in our refrigerators. But the most recent place the trend has popped up, and one that caught us by surprise, was the 2019 Oscars red carpet. On Sunday night, Jane Fonda showed up to the 92nd Academy awards wearing the same gorgeous Elie Saab gown she wore to the 2014 Cannes film festival. Fonda, who has been an outspoken activist on the subject of climate change, vowed to quit shopping last year, and made good on her promise at the most highly-publicized fashion events of the year. “So when I talk to people about, ‘We don’t really need to keep shopping. We shouldn’t look to shopping for our identity. We don’t need more stuff,’ then I have to walk the walk too. So I’m not buying any more clothes,” she said during a protest on November 1, 2019. And walk the walk she did: in a vintage dress and sustainably harvested jewelry, no-less. Photo: Getty Images/Well+Good Creative But Fonda wasn’t the only one who wore a pre-loved piece from her own wardrobe. Elizabeth Banks wore a red gown that the world already ooh-ed and ahh-ed over at the 2004 Vanity Fair Oscars party to this year’s event, Arianna Huffington repurposed a dress from 2003, and Joaquin Phoenix wore the
I’ve tried every type of lube available, but 1 bottle has earned its spot as my main squeeze
February 10, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC For the unlubricated—er, uninitiated—there are three main types of lubricants available to level up your pleasure time: silicone-based, oil-based, and water-based. Each comes with its own list of pros and cons, or dos and don’ts. After doing the research and trying all the options safely, though, I can tell you with confidence that water-based reigns supreme as most versatile, and better yet, I can recommend the best water-based lube available for you to try. First, here’s why other options don’t stack up comparison: Silicone-based options are slippery, long-lasting, barrier-safe (meaning compliant with safe-sex tools like condoms and dental dams), and are known as the best type for anal play. But, silicone-based lubricants can’t be used with silicone-based sex toys (which is a material most body-safe vibrators use) because the silicone sticks to itself, which can compromise the shape, texture, or feel of the toy. Oil-based lubes are longer-lasting than silicone options, amazing for full-body massages, and compatible with all types of sex toys. But even just 60 seconds of exposure to oil can degrade latex barriers, a crucial quality to uphold to protect against STI transmission and unplanned pregnancy. Furthermore, because certain oil-based lubes can interact with the vaginal ecosystem and lead to yeast infections or bacterial vaginosis, they are not recommended for vaginally penetrative sex. “You can use [water-based lube] with any sex toy material or barrier protection.”—sex educator Lisa Finn Finally, there’s water-based lube, which Lisa Finn, sex educator with sex-toy
I’m a professor who encourages students to take dance breaks—this is what happens when you sit too much
February 10, 2020 at 06:15PM by CWC As much as it hurts to acknowledge it, we know sitting is bad for us. Sitting too long can cause inflammation that makes our muscles sore and throws our body way out of alignment. Researchers at UCLA are taking a stand (get it?), and taking a deeper look into why we sit for so long, the impact it has, and how to get us moving again. What happens to your body when you sit all day? “As we’ve evolved as a society with all these advancements, we really engineered the the need to move out of our daily lives,” says Burt Cowgill, PhD, an adjunct assistant public health professor at UCLA. “It’s ironic now that we find ourselves actively trying to reengineer movement back into sort of our lives.” Dr. Cowgill and his colleagues conducted a qualitative study with professors and students and found that a majority of students felt they didn’t get enough time to move around during class, and more than half thought it was socially unacceptable to get around and move, but they reported that they’d get up and move more if their instructor encouraged it. Dr. Cowgill explains that there are both short-term and long-term impacts of sitting too long. You may feel some aches and muscle fatigue from sitting at your desk all day long in positions that aren’t ergonomically optimized. He says people can feel the effects of prolonged sitting while they’re at work, but also at night
Oscar-winning ‘Hair Love’ is more than just an animated short, it’s a celebration of Black hair in every iteration
February 10, 2020 at 05:11PM by CWC Black women and girls have long existed within the duality of having hair that is both too much and not enough. Too big. Too coarse. Too tough. Not easy enough to tame. Not good enough to wake up and go. In Hair Love, which won an Oscar for best animated short, we see two distinct ends of that spectrum. A little girl with hair too big for her father to tame, and her mother, who lost her hair to illness. Director Matthew Cherry said in his acceptance speech that Hair Love was “born out of wanting to see more representation out of animation, but also wanting to normalize Black hair.” Cherry also mentioned The CROWN Act in his speech. An acronym for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” CROWN seeks to prohibit discrimination based on hair style and hair texture. It was first written into law in California, and states like New York and New Jersey have since adopted it. The New Jersey law went into effect in December 2019, one year after the wrestling match where New Jersey high school wrestler Andrew Johnson’s dreadlocks were forcibly cut off; Deandre Arnold, a Texas high school student who was suspended for refusing to cut his locs, attended at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards as Cherry’s guest. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNw8V_Fkw28] The film opens with a scene of the little girl excited to get up, put on her pretty pink dress, and take on
Retinol eye creams are everywhere these days—here’s why derms love them
February 10, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC There’s no skin-care ingredient that’s better-studied or more recommended by dermatologist than retinol. In serums and moisturizers, the vitamin A derivative stimulates skin-cell turnover, flips on the collagen pumps within your complexion, and leaves skin looking fresh and bright over time. And in great news for your under eye area, more and more eye creams are now spiked with the superstar ingredient, too. The skin underneath your eyes is the thinnest on your face, and because of this, it’s typically where people first show signs of aging (think: fine lines and dark circles). Old schools of thought assumed that the aggressive ingredient had no business around the most fragile part of your complexion, but thanks to new formulations, that’s no longer the case. Many retinol eye creams use buffered or encapsulated retinol, surrounded by loads of hydrating ingredients to make the products easier for skin to tolerate. In fact, Gretchen Frieling, MD, a Wellesley, MA, board-certified dermatopathologist, says that opting for a retinol specifically concocted for around the eyes can help to protect you from irritation from the get-go. “These usually contain lower concentrations and are more hydrating than what you use on your face,” she says. However, take note: Ahead of using any product (especially an intense one like retinol), do a small patch test to make sure the formula agrees with your skin. And as with any other retinol, wear the stuff at night since it can be sun-sensitizing during the daylight
Did you know that there are two different types of monogamy?
February 10, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC Even in a world that’s growing more inclusive by the day, many of us still embrace the concept of monogamy in a strictly binary framework—you either are or you aren’t. “From the day we are born, there’s an overarching narrative that one day we’ll grow up, fall in love with someone of the ‘opposite’ gender, get married and be monogamous,” says LGBTQ+ activist Robyn Ochs, editor of the anthology Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World and Recognize. (ICYWW, “opposite” is in quotations because gender isn’t organized into a neat a binary given that there are more than two genders). That restrictive continuum neither leaves room for different types of monogamy that are more nuanced or any other type of relationship structure. Well for Ochs, and many other queer- and LGBTQ-identifying folks, that narrative took a plot twist. “Growing up, it never once crossed my mind that I wouldn’t be with a man, monogamously, but then I fell in love with a woman and came out as bisexual,” she says. That’s when she began unpacking why she haphazardly accepted the understanding of monogamy that was foisted on her rather than exploring what makes better sense for the scope of her own life. “I started to interrogate why I was in a monogamous relationship. I looked within myself, read about polyamory, talked with my non-monogamous friends, and did the work to unlearn what I was told growing up: that monogamy was and is
Our food system is making us and the planet sicker. Here’s what we can all do to fix it
February 10, 2020 at 01:00PM by CWC I don’t think it’s any secret that our current food system is, well, broken. It’s not okay—or even logical—that a hamburger costs less than a salad. It’s not okay that 70 percent of the world’s human use of water goes to animal production—not, in fact, humans. And that’s just one of the ways our current food system is negatively affecting the environment and climate. People often tell me that when they think about the long list of problems our current food system—a term used to describe how we eat and where our food comes from—has created, they feel overwhelmed. I get that; it’s complicated. But that’s also not an excuse to do nothing. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, how you eat affects not only your body, but the planet—for better or for worse. That’s why I decided to write Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet—One Bite at a Time to give everyone—eaters, entrepreneurs in the food space, and policymakers—a blueprint to help make tangible steps toward change. Maybe you think my book’s title is overblown. Can changing the way we eat really transform the economy, our communities, and planet? Well, yeah, it can. The truth is, we all have the potential to be changemakers. Why our broken food system is ground zero for so many other problems Let’s start with something that you’ve probably already thought about before: the connection between food and health. I’m not going to