April 11, 2019 at 06:54AM by CWC For some reason, I’ve always connected the color baby blue with Justin Timberlake. I swear that I read a questionnaire with him in a teen magazine from his N’Sync days in which he said the pastel is his favorite hue. Ever since, the shade has brought me nostalgic, early 2000s vibes, reminiscent of Timberlake’s baby blue eyes and matching oversized jerseys that he rocked in his music videos. After all, if we’re on the tale-end of all things ’90s, then it make sense that the styles of the early 2000s are now coming into favor. So, much to the pop star’s luck, his favorite color of all time is now on trend in the nail polish world (you’re welcome, Justin). Lead nail artist at New York’s Valley nail salon, Elaine Lee, was just raving about how the hue is uber popular right now. “Deborah Lippmann’s ‘Leave the Light On’ Spring collection is the must-have this season,” she tells me. “Each color is neutral enough to go with any wardrobe. Out of the whole collection though, I would say ‘Above the Clouds’ is a crowd favorite. It’s the ultimate pick-me-up flash of pastel.” Above the Clouds ($20) is the baby-est of baby blues that’s like the sky on a cloudless spring day. The good thing about the hue is that it can be rocked by all skin tones, and pastels look good with any outfit that you may be wearing. Seriously—baby blue is like
Category: 2019 Health
This black pepper-turmeric ghee gives any savory dish anti-inflammatory powers
April 11, 2019 at 03:00AM by CWC Photo: Conari Press It’s 2019 and if you still haven’t heard about turmeric, I just don’t even know what to tell you. The spice is beloved for its anti-inflammatory benefits, making it a mainstay of traditional Indian cooking as well as more modern products like golden milk lattes and even turmeric supplements. It’s such a powerful ingredient that The Herbal Kitchen author Kami McBride says she incorporates it into her dishes as much as she can. “I always say, ‘You need a carminative at every meal,’” she says. (Carminative = something that increases blood and oxygen flow to the digestive system, and ahem, relieves gas.) “Digesting lunch uses more energy than we realize, and finding creative ways to add carminative herbs and spices to food is one of the best health hacks out there,” she says. One way McBride does just that is with her black pepper and turmeric ghee recipe. McBride’s recipe is simple: just ghee, powdered turmeric, black pepper, and powdered bay leaf. “Turmeric, pepper, and bay are powerful digestive-supporting carminative herbs,” she says. And pairing black pepper and turmeric makes the anti-inflammatory effects of the turmeric stronger. She also says the bay leaf tempers the intensity of the pepper. “Together, they create a trinity of flavor that’s perfect for slathering on roasted vegetables and drizzling on hummus and dips,” she says. McBride says she’s long used healthy fats like olive oil and ghee as mediums to get her fill of
10 actionable tips to stop feeling guilty about things you can’t even change
April 11, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC Everyone feels guilty at various points in time. Still, there’s a big difference between experiencing the no-fun sensation when you’ve actually done something wrong versus when you, well, haven’t. Case in point: Feeling guilty because you broke your diet, didn’t fold the laundry when you told yourself you would, or actually made time for yourself. “Most people tend to feel guilty even if they haven’t done anything wrong because they have higher expectations for themselves,” says Thea Gallagher, PsyD. “They somehow feel that they’re letting themselves down when they don’t meet those expectations.” And licensed clinical psychologist Alicia H. Clark, PsyD, author of Hack Your Anxiety, says these expectations are often born from rules and standards fostered while growing up (read: they’re deep-seated). “Most people tend to feel guilty even if they haven’t done anything wrong because they have higher expectations for themselves. They somehow feel that they’re letting themselves down when they don’t meet those expectations.” —Thea Gallagher, PsyD While guilt certainly has an ugly side, it’s not all bad. After all, it’s an emotion that can help motivate you, points out licensed clinical psychologist John Mayer, PhD, author of Family Fit: Find Your Balance in Life. Still, feeling guilty all the time is doing you zero favors in the mental-health department—so use the following strategies to stop it from occupying so much space in your life. Check out 10 expert-backed ways to stop feeling guilty, once and for all. 1. Own your
If you’re a woman, here’s why your gut issues aren’t just in your head
April 10, 2019 at 06:30PM by CWC Pick a girlfriend in your inner circle and there’s a good chance you know exactly when she’s on her period—and what her accompanying symptoms look like. That’s because over the last decade, menstruation has gone from an off-limits topic to an integral part of your daily dialogue. For the wellness advocates at RenewLife®, makers of probiotic supplements formulated for women, it’s high time for us to similarly normalize the conversation about the gut issues that affect nearly 100 million women. (Feel free to collect your jaw off the floor after hearing that stunning number.) It’s time for us to normalize the conversation about the gut issues that affect nearly 100 million women. The reality is, on a daily basis, millions of women silently endure symptoms of gut imbalance including constipation, diarrhea, and discomfort after eating. “I would say the majority of the population has some degree of gut imbalance, due to a perfect storm of factors, such as excessive reliance on antibiotics, inflammatory foods in our diet, chronic stress, and the ubiquity of glyphosate (from the pesticide RoundUp) in our food and tap water,” says holistic psychiatrist Ellen Vora, MD. So what exactly does optimal gut health look like? According to Dr. Vora, it means you poop like clockwork every morning (TMI? Sorry not sorry), your stomach feels comfortable even after you eat, and you don’t have heartburn, hemorrhoids, bloating, gas, burping, loose stools, or tiny rabbit poops. Do any of those things
Pass the cold brew, because coffee has a ton of health benefits we’re all (not) sleeping on
April 10, 2019 at 05:42PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsQt8aevoZw] The most frequently used appliance in my kitchen is not the stove or the microwave. It’s the coffee maker. I can’t imagine a morning without a cup of joe. (I can, but the thought is so horrible I try not to dwell on it for too long.) Coffee, it seems, is the only substance that grants me the ability to function at full capacity. However, like all things that are delicious and that I imbibe regularly, I’ve started to have doubts and fears about the health effects of my coffee consumption. It seems like my entire Instagram feed is filled with snaps of matcha lattes and people waxing poetic about how they feel so much better after quitting coffee. Is there now something wrong with my morning habit? Thankfully, registered dietician Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, MS, RD, is here to spill the tea—or rather, java—on the benefits of coffee for the latest episode of You Versus Food. And for all those taken by the allure of coffee, I promise you that she has some pretty great news. What are the benefits of coffee? Coffee is actually pretty good for you, Beckerman told me (as I let out a massive sigh of relief). “Coffee, when consumed in moderation with minimal amounts of sugars and creamers, can be a healthy addition to an otherwise healthy and balanced diet.” And each cup includes an impressive array of health benefits: 1. It gives your brain a
Trainers explain when to actually use those weights machines in the gym
April 10, 2019 at 05:00PM by CWC When I’m wandering around in the gym post-cardio, trying to figure out how I’m going to go about strength training, I tend to alternate between hitting up the weights machines and working with the free weights. I’m going to tell you the honest truth: I choose between them based on my mood (or TBH whichever area of the gym is the emptiest at the time). A lot of people I know actually shy away from the weights machines though, because they can be intimidating and not intuitive to use. Every time I sit down on one, I personally have to check out the illustrated instructions to find out what position I should be in and how it functions. Hence why I decided to ask trainers how to properly navigate these machines, and when to actually choose them over dumbbells based on your fitness goals. The main difference? “The machines typically take your body through the range of motion—from the starting point through to the end point, a machine will take you through the same line of motion with each and every repetition,” says Phil Timmons, program manager at Blink Fitness. But there’s a lot more that differs between those machines and your regular dumbbells. When to use weights machines First of all, know that while the two weight-lifting options do essentially the same thing, there are actually noticeable differences when it comes to how your body maneuvers. “While strength training with machines and
Can you be stressed without knowing it?
April 10, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Find me a person who isn’t stressed and I will also point to the pigs flying by the window because that just feels completely impossible. Case in point? In a 2018 survey of Well+Good readers, 95 percent reported feeling stressed. Work and finances topped the list of stressors, while many other people said that their interpersonal relationships were a major source of stress and anxiety. But what about the times when nothing is ostensibly wrong, and you still find yourself lying awake at night or trying to shake off a nagging feeling that something is off? Is it possible that your body could be stressed, even if you don’t feel stressed out? When fight-or-flight goes haywire If you’re asking yourself, “Am I stressed?” despite not having anything concrete to be stressed about, blame that super fun feeling on evolution. When your brain sees something it perceives to be a threat, your amygdala —the part of the brain associated with emotions—takes over, “cutting off communication to the frontal part of your cortex, which is where the rational coping thoughts would be,” says David Austern, PsyD., clinical assistant professor at New York University’s department of psychiatry. The result is that fight-or-flight response: a racing heart, sweaty palms, dizziness, that feeling that your stomach just dropped to the ground. These are all your body’s signs to stop thinking and start running. A thousand years ago, this was a helpful reflex; nowadays, not as much. Unfortunately, our brains
Looks like a stronger savings account is the silver—er, green—lining to being a bit insecure
April 10, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC Remember how in The Hobbit, Smaug the dragon lived atop his riches, which act as a protective armor of sorts? I now wonder if that might’ve been a low self-esteem thing, because new research points to insecurity being a low-key money-saving strategy. Sure, in Smaug’s case it didn’t work out well (spoiler!), but the revelation can be at least slightly comforting for those of us who are lacking in the self-confidence area. Recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the study of 2,410 United States and Israeli citizens and survey of 1,200 people in the Netherlands conveyed ties between saving money and a threats to self-image. Across the board, results showed that those who feel great threats to self-image had a higher tendency to save money. BTW, “threats to self-image” translates here to “things that challenge your self-esteem or your otherwise-positive self-perception.” Basically if you’re insecure about something, like how you interpret the quality of your own social life, for instance, being financially secure can help to ease your anxieties. “Friends may substitute for money as a psychological resource and buffer individuals from anxiety about the future.” —lead author Yael Steinhart, PhD One experiment had participants describe a positive or negative event, then count the people they would call and interact with in a given week and quantify whether they felt this to be few or many friends. Then they imagined receiving $500 and how much they would put in
This ACV-spiked drink keeps a Peloton master trainer energized all day
April 10, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC As someone who works out regularly, I try my best to be a good healthy person and hydrate properly. So I’m constantly lugging my trusty water bottle around and refilling it (and consequentially, peeing) like it’s my job. But I’m also a human—which means that I sometimes get sick of plain ol’ water. I keep things like berry-flavored collagen tablets, flavored electrolyte powder, and adaptogen drops on my desk to spike my H2O so that it’s more entertaining for my taste buds. And then I stumbled upon the ultimate wellness elixir to step up my water game, all courtesy of a superstar fitness trainer. No surprises here, but it contains the inflammation-busting goddess ingredient that is apple cider vinegar. Robin Arzon, vice president and head instructor at Peloton, recently posted on her Instagram story her (formerly) secret recipe for staying hydrated and energized during long days of teaching classes. It involves water, lemon, sea salt, and ACV. “This helps hydrate you, restore your pH balance, and boosts energy,” she raves in her post. Her pro tip: “Make sure to use enough water to dilute the lemon and ACV because it can erode tooth enamel if not.” Nutritionist and NOW spokesperson Dawn Jackson Blatner is a fan of the recipe, noting that it would make a good pre-workout drink. “Water is a great hydrator, salt is an electrolyte, which is something we lose in sweat, lemon is refreshing and has vitamin C, and apple
Score your spring beauty essentials with Ulta’s blowout sale
April 10, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC Spring. Is. Here. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and I am finally wearing an outfit that doesn’t involve boots, a sweater, or a parka. Forget the December holidays, IMHO this is the most wonderful time of the year, and Ulta is hosting a massive beauty sale to help us all celebrate. Woot woot! From April 7 through 20th, the beauty retailer is offering deals on dozens of different products to help us all transition our skin-care, hair care and makeup routines into the new season. A few things we should all consider doing now that temperatures are starting to climb: Swap your cream moisturizer for a gel-textured one to help with excess skin greasiness; opt for a waterproof mascara that can stand up to allergy-induced tears; and slick your strands with something nourishing now that air-drying is officially an option. Thankfully, Ulta’s offerings will help make all of this possible—at some seriously discounted prices. And the best part? A lot of the products are things that the beauty editors here at Well+Good happen to swear by. A few examples: L’Oreal Waterproof Lash Paradise Mascara ($7), which I wear every day and have yet to see clump or smudge; Soap and Glory Body Scrub ($8), which comes in loads of different scents and will help slough off the dead skin you’ve been hiding under your layers all winter; and every single thing from Sun Bum Haircare, which will make you feel like you’re on summer