February 18, 2020 at 09:00PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQIqrnCKSYE] Noticed that nutrition labels look a little differently these days? Here’s a dietitian’s rundown on the updated label. Real talk: I haven’t looked at a nutrition label since, like, the ’90s which, it turns out, was the last time they were updated. Well, until now. As of January 2020, nutrition labels will start to get a makeover to better reflect all we’ve learned about eating since 1993, when low-fat everything was the ill-advised food trend du jour. But how do these changes impact what you add to your grocery cart? In the latest episode of You Versus Food, dietitian Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, breaks down this newest iteration of the label so you can make better sense of it all. “It’s important to know how to read the entire nutrition label, so you can feel informed and make the best and healthiest decision for yourself,” she says. One of the biggest changes is actually meant to minimize confusion around that aforementioned dietary fat situation, since we now know not all forms are created equally. New labels will no longer include the amount of calories that come from fat since, well, this figure doesn’t really matter. Instead, they will more simply list amounts of trans and saturated fats so you can better track and limit your consumption of the heart disease enablers. And looking at saturated fat in particular is one of the most important things to keep an eye out for
Month: February 2020
How one woman is helping Black mothers thrive through plant-based foods
February 18, 2020 at 01:30PM by CWC Taylor Johnson-Gordon is on a mission to help Millennial Black mothers feed their families plant-based food—and to shorten their to-do list in the process. Through Sistah of the Yam, she offers guidance and support with everything from meal planning to shopping lists to cooking skills. Here, as part of the Wellness in Color series on Well+Good, Council member and wellness expert Latham Thomas connects to find out more about Johnson-Gordon’s drive, self-care practices, and goals in helping fellow mothers create food that nourishes their spirit, their community, and their families. Latham Thomas: Could you talk a little bit about yourself and the work that you do? Taylor Johnson-Gordon: I am a plant food educator and an herbalist. I founded Sistah of the Yam as a space to help Black women heal and grow resiliency through real and affordable food. Right now, I’m facilitating herbal workshops, cooking workshops, nutrition classes, and working one-on-one with Black women and supporting them in their wellness journey. Latham Thomas: Where did your interest in this work begin? Taylor Johnson-Gordon: A lot of it came out of my own story and having disordered patterns with food—how I related to it and how it relates to my body. I also have a background in theology. It wasn’t until I was in seminary that I began to ask these critical questions: We are created in the image of God, so how does that impact how I relate to my own body?
New research strengthens the connection between the Mediterranean diet and longevity
February 18, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC When it comes to living a long, healthy life, there’s a few major factors that researchers continually see pop up. Having a sense of purpose, feeling connected to family and friends, and regularly moving your body are all big ones. Of course what you eat matters, too, and new research continues to reinforce the link between the Mediterranean diet and longevity, most recently with a study published in the medical journal Gut. Researchers instructed 612 adults between the ages of 65 and 79 in five different European countries to follow the Mediterranean diet for one year, analyzing how both cognitive function and gut microbiomes changed before and after they began the eating plan. They found that sticking to the Med diet may be linked to lowering inflammation markers, increasing both brain function and gut health—and therefore the aging process overall. “On a global basis, the majority of elderly people do not consume a Med diet and, in fact, a major challenge in elderly healthcare is the consumption of a restricted diet which is associated with a low-diversity gut microbiome, especially in subjects in long-term residential care,” reads the study. Before being instructed to follow the Med diet, researchers collected stool samples and asked the participates about their current diets and lifestyles. The participants ate lower amounts of fiber, vitamins (specifically vitamins C, B6, B9, and thiamine), minerals (including magnesium and iron), and healthy fats before starting the Med diet. They were asked to
5 ways to cope with the mid-winter blues, because we’re in the thick of the season
February 18, 2020 at 06:00PM by CWC The start of winter is exciting, at least on some level, thanks to all the holidays and parties that come with them. But once the holiday season (and holiday party season) passes, for many, so too does the sheen of novelty tied to the time of year. What’s left? Quite a bit of grayness, chilliness, and time to wallow in the mid-winter blues. For those who are prone to depression or struggle with a form of seasonal depression known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the winter—when sunlight may be lacking depending on where you live—can be especially rough to handle happily. “Sunlight can stimulate the release of serotonin, a feel-good brain chemical,” says psychologist Jennifer Carter, PhD. “With less sunlight, individuals are more prone to depressed moods.” But the mid-winter blues can also be tough to manage for those don’t have an underlying mental-health condition, leading even the most positive of people to feel blah. “Mid-winter brings along the darkest and coldest months of the year,” says psychologist Shannon O’Neill, PhD, adding that those short, cold days make many people want to “socially hibernate.” “With this isolation and withdrawal comes being more sedentary, lethargy, overeating, and excessive sleep,” she adds. And those behaviors are common symptoms of depressive feelings, which can lower your mood even further. “The middle part has a tendency to be the more tedious. It can drag on.” —psychologist Paul Coleman, PsyD But since that mood is theoretically relevant to all
Elite athletes use this underwater breath technique to boost athletic performance
February 18, 2020 at 05:00PM by CWC A few weeks ago, I did the weirdest thing of my life to date: I learned how to hold my breath under water. And no, it wasn’t the 30-second amateur stuff you master for youth swim meets—it was full minutes without oxygen. I’ll let that settle in. If you’re wondering why a person outfitted with a perfectly healthy set of lungs would willingly deprive herself of air, there’s a very simple answer: I heard that some of the world’s foremost athletes do it for better performance. Freedivers hold their breath to plunge far beneath the ocean’s surface. Redbull athlete and free-surfer Jamie O’Brien uses breath-holding techniques until he can come back up for air during his most life-threatening wipeouts. And Olympic sprinters Joaquim Cruz and Mary Decker used a similar technique to boost their respiration in sprint races in the 1970s. I myself am not a free-diver, nor a sprinter, nor a surfer, but I am endlessly curious about how the cogs of the body make or break athletic performance. And that’s how I found myself at New York City’s Aqua Studios, learning how to not breathe with Kirk Krack, a world-famous freediving trainer whose client roster includes soaking-wet versions of celebs like Margot Robbie and Tom Cruise. Minutes into the session (which bless, started on dry land) I learned that holding your breath actually involves a lot of… breathing. Before you give up good old O2 for several minutes, Krack tells our group that you
4 hair-care essentials that will take any routine up a notch
February 18, 2020 at 04:00PM by CWC Our skin pretty much steals all the beauty spotlight. According to Dianna Cohen, founder of the new hair-care brand Crown Affair, however, your hair deserves just as much attention. And in keeping with the less-is-more vibes reverberating through skin care, that doesn’t mean you need a routine stacked with multiple steps, you simply need a few hair care essentials that you can mix and match, depending on what your hair needs at a given moment. “I’ve always nerded out about hair care, because your wellness routine includes your hair,” says Cohen of her passion for what she calls the “skin-ification” of hair care. “Like your skin, your hair goes through different phases in your life—if you’re going through a stressful time, it shows up in your hair as much as your skin.” As we know, stress really does cause hair to gray, and stress can sometimes even lead to hair loss. This is why creating a simple routine for your strands—something Cohen recommends for all—is key to leaving your hair looking nourished and less damaged. Similar to skin, people have very different hair types (different textures, curl patterns, hair thickness) and lifestyle factors (such as how often you sweat or shower) that impact how you care for your hair. But Cohen swears that regardless of hair type, mixing up these four basic tools will lead you to a reliable, streamlined routine. Keep scrolling for the must-have hair-care essentials Cohen suggests for all. Graphic:
Why your favorite grab-and-go snack is moving to the refrigerator section
February 18, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC The refrigerated section at the grocery store is getting pretty crowded these days. First there were new alt-milks to compete with dairy milk and old standbys like soy and almond milk, then a variety of new alt-cheeses, meats, and yogurts popped up. And now, a new class of snacks—refrigerated protein bars—want to get in on the action. That’s right—the OG of convenient, healthy snacks is getting in on the refrigeration game. It started with Perfect Snacks (which launched its OG Perfect Bar way back in 2005), but as they exploded onto grocery store shelves nation-wide, more and more brands started to jump on the refrigerated bar bandwagon. Think: CORE Bar ($48 for 16), OHI Bar ($32 for eight), Bright Foods Bars ($48 for six), and Phyter Plant-Based Food Bar ($55 for eight). Even OG protein bar brands like ProBars are getting into the refrigeration game. This trend was even recognized by Whole Foods as being one of the top trends they’re seeing across customers for 2020, so we don’t see the movement dying down anytime soon. Yet, what is the point of moving these snacks to the refrigerated section? Here’s everything you need to know. The healthy appeal of refrigerated protein bars and snacks For starters, refrigerating bars and other snacks is to forego preservative use. “Refrigeration is often used to eliminate the need for preservatives in food products, and as such all of the refrigerated bars on the market I’ve found are preservative-free,”
I adopted my partner’s favorite hobby as my own—am I losing myself in my relationship?
February 18, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC It’s Saturday morning, and I’m waiting in line at REI to buy $80 climbing shoes when I realize something: There’s a very real chance my boyfriend and I are morphing into the same human being. That’s because a year ago, I would have cited my fear of heights to get me out of anything that involved ascending much higher than my local New York City’s street level. (“I can’t go to a rooftop bar with you! It’s too high!”) But after several months of dating, my love interest somehow convinced me to try his go-to hobby of rock climbing, and I was into immediately. I fell in love with a human being, and now I own climbing shoes! Expensive ones! I’m still having fun, and I’m still happy—romantically and otherwise—but a nagging voice in the back of my head keeps asking: Am I losing myself in this relationship? Dominique Samuels, PsyD, resident psychologist for relationship-health app Emi Couple, says patients often come to her wondering just that, whether they’re sacrificing their own individuality and melding into their partner’s identity. So, if you’ve ever experienced a similar thought, at least take comfort in knowing you’re hardly alone—and, according to Dr. Samuels, there are a couple reasons you may be feeling this way. 2 reasons for wondering whether you’re losing yourself in a relationship 1. You’re afraid of commitment. You think you’re losing yourself in a relationship because you’re nursing a very real desire to actually
Drop what you’re doing: It turns out procrastination isn’t always a result of laziness
February 18, 2020 at 01:00PM by CWC If you’re a living, breathing human, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve procrastinated on something at some point in time. Whether with little things, like doing chores and running errands, or bigger-deal personal checkpoints like hitting career goals, the inclination to put off your to-do list items has a tendency to show up at times in life when we most pressingly need to get stuff done—and there are a number of causes of procrastination that explain why it happens. Although in the short-term, you may feel relieved to put things off, in the long-term, it can become a detrimental habit. “Procrastination turns into a deeper issue when it begins to shift how you see yourself,” says industrial-organizational psychologist and leadership coach Tianna Tye. “It’s too common that we adopt a ‘this is how I am’ or ‘I’ve always procrastinated’ mentality. It is damaging to our confidence and our belief that we are capable of achieving great things.” When procrastination hits, you’ll either miraculously get a burst of energy at the 11th hour and accomplish the task, or you’ll run out of time, not get it done (or at least not to the best of your abilities), and end up feeling disappointed in yourself. But that disappointment is often tied to the belief that laziness is what propelled your choice to put off your tasks when in actuality, causes of procrastination are more vast and wide. “You can find a clue to your deeper issue
If a wanderlust pro could only pack 4 outfits for a vacation, here’s what she would bring
February 18, 2020 at 10:30AM by CWC You’ve been planning this year’s vacay for months, and now it’s two days away and all you’ve packed are your fave grab-and-go snacks, your hydrating skin-care products for the plane, and your passport (#priorities). But before you start stressing about what you’re actually going to wear, try this packing-light formula from travel expert Michelle Halpern for what to pack in a carry-on that’s comfortable, can be worn multiple ways, and will look great in photos (because, again, #priorities). “When packing for a trip, there are really three main factors that go into my overall strategy: how long the trip will last, what the average weather is at that time of year, and what specific activities I’ll be partaking in,” Halpern says. “When packing for a trip, there are really three main factors that go into my overall strategy.” Once you’ve answered these three questions, you can start raiding your closet. But make sure you save room in your suitcase for footwear, because according to Halpern, the right shoes can make or break a trip. “If you’re not comfortable in the shoes you’re wearing on your adventures, you won’t enjoy the trip,” she says. “So investing in comfort is so important.” Her go-to shoes are classic, look great with many different outfits, and above all, keep her feet happy (i.e. leave your stilettos at home). That’s where kicks like Sperry’s new PLUSHWAVE shoes come in clutch, because they’re so lightweight you can pack a