February 07, 2019 at 07:53AM by CWC Any meal where you can essentially throw a bunch of ingredients in one dish, cook for 40 minutes, and then get it on the table is a lifesaver for busy weeknights—especially when you have a whole fam (or even just a very hungry you!) to feed. That’s where the healthy casserole comes in. Not having to constantly watch the stove allows for more important evening activities, like watching Broad City. Plus, they make so many leftovers—the meal prepper’s dream. Here’s the thing: Casseroles have long been a busy eater’s go-to, but the ones from your childhood probably weren’t that healthy…or very appetizing. (Here’s to everyone who involuntarily gags just hearing the words “tuna noodle casserole.”) Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. Remember, we are living in a time where cauliflower can make a really good pizza crust and chickpeas can be pasta! To that end, check out these 10 healthy casseroles that are easy, nutritious, and blissfully tuna-free. Your mom would be proud. Keep reading for 10 healthy casseroles to make on busy weekday nights. Photo: Live Eat Learn 1. Vegan green bean casserole Green bean casserole probably has a standing appointment on your Thanksgiving table, but green beans—rich in folate, potassium, and fiber—are so healthy that they deserve attention more than once a year. Especially when following Live Eat Learn blogger Sarah Bond’s recipe, which is healthier than smothering the vegetables in processed cream of mushroom soup. Her recipe provides an easy
Category: 2019 Health
10,000 steps is the biggest scam of our generation
February 07, 2019 at 07:49AM by CWC There is an undeniable sense of accomplishment when your FitBit or iPhone step tracker hits 10,000. Because: You did it! You’ve reached your activity goal, and can file the day away as a successfully active one. Except there’s one problem: That whole “10,000 steps” answer to the question of how many steps to take in a day is actually kind of a scam. Yup—you read that right. The number was developed in the 1960s by a Japanese walking club while they were producing a step-counting device with a name that roughly translated to “10,000 steps meter.” They marketed the tool using the slogan: “Let’s walk 10,000 steps a day,” and clearly—if our collective FitBit obsession is any indiction—that number stuck. “It became popularized amongst pedometer companies and now is popularized obviously among media but there’s no actual scientific basis for 10,000 steps,” says Elroy Aguiar, PhD, senior postdoctoral research associate at the Physical Activity and Health Laboratory Department of Kinesiology at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at University of Massachusetts Amherst. “This 10,000 steps number came from out of nowhere. I guess they roughly knew how much on average people usually do really—which is around 6,000 steps a day—and they just set an arbitrary target of 10,000, something they knew that would improve activity because it was higher than what people were currently doing.” Is your mind blown? Yeah, same. According to a 2004 study, this checks out. “It’s a nice round number
5 reasons why Kendall Jenner is the low-key wellness guru of her family
February 07, 2019 at 07:15AM by CWC As someone who’s been keeping up with the Kardashians for a perhaps embarrassing number of years (sue me, okay?), you could say I have a significant amount of respect for the sisters (and queen mom Kris Jenner, of course). But I have to admit that—despite being fond of all of them—I’ve favored Kourtney Kardashian the most. Kourtney is the one who’s always showcasing her daily workouts, dropping healthy superfood-packed food recipes, and even lobbies for clean beauty (just like me!). But slowly, my healthy admiration has shifted—because Kendall Jenner has become the low-key wellness guru of the fam. Allow me to impart all of the reasons why you should look to Jenner for top-notch health tips. 1. She’s a meditation pro: For years now, Jenner has been a devotee of Transcendental Meditation. In an interview with Allure, she reiterates that she “really dove into it” and has seen a major difference in her mental health. That means she’s all about sitting for 20 minutes twice a day with a mantra to clear her head and practice mindfulness. 2. Her nighttime routine is very chill: Turns out this particular Jenner sister can get pretty woo-woo in her wellness habits. At night, she’s all about aromatherapy and crystals. “I got a new Everlasting Comforts humidifier that has an essential-oil tray,” she tells Allure. “I liked it because it looked cool, honestly, and it had a good review on Amazon. I’ll throw lavender or eucalyptus in it, then I’ll sit
A little oregano oil can go a long way for your immune system
February 07, 2019 at 04:58AM by CWC Winter brings the unfortunate combination of enclosed spaces and contagious colds, which is why now is the time to make sure your body is playing strong defense. You don’t need to be a sports fan to know that the key to a strong defense is a good offense. And oregano oil is the player you might want to put in the game. Studies suggest that consuming oregano oil can help ward off bacterial infections. Adding a few drops of it to your morning smoothie or juice (vitamin C, FTW!) could help fight off any nasty bugs you may have come into contact with. “The active compound in oregano, carvacrol, is antimicrobial, meaning it kills bad bacteria,” says certified health coach and director of food and beverage at Equinox Katzie Guy-Hamilton in an interview with Furthermore. “It’s an effective anti-parasitic, antiviral, antiseptic and immune booster,” certified holistic health coach Annie Lawless tells Well+Good. Lawless says it’s one of five go-to superherbs that she keeps in her medicine cabinet. She takes oregano if she starts to feel a cold or flu coming on and claims that it can help protect against candida overgrowth. “Oregano oil is best known for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties,” says registered dietitian Marissa Moore. But she adds that more research needs to be done to know how it works as part of an overall diet. “Like many functional foods and ingredients, when it comes to oil of oregano, there’s the matter of knowing what it can
Do your emails drip with performative kindness? Same!!!! Here’s what to do about it
February 07, 2019 at 04:42AM by CWC Am I the only one who feels like hitting “send” on an email that doesn’t contain at least one exclamation point is basically equivalent to firing off a virtual middle finger to the recipient? Frankly, I doubt it: Constantly feeling the need to be “nice” in the workplace is a compulsion with which women are intimately familiar—experts and science say so. In can manifest in many ways, like, say in emails with excessively enthusiastic punctuation or in some other form (like emojis, a syrupy sign-off, or by using qualifying words like “just”). Regardless, it’s time to scrutinize the psychological reasons we gas up all our outgoing messages. “Women are often conditioned to value relationships and protect them,” says psychologist Aimee Daramus, PsyD, pointing to oxytocin, a chemical women tend to have more of than men that’s connected with the warm feeling derived from nurturing and being nurtured. Many women grow up in an environment that socializes them to be caretakers, Dr. Daramus says, and whether or not we realize it, fluffing up emails is a way to offer care for whomever’s on the opposite end of the conversation. There’s another factor at play here, too. While staring into a screen, we don’t get the luxury of using tone or facial expression to convey what we’re trying to say. And thus, we often feel that our words need to do the legwork that a smile or a sarcastic undertone would accomplish IRL. “Maybe we ‘over-nice’ to
Not all topics are first-date material—here’s when and how to spill your secrets
February 07, 2019 at 03:30AM by CWC Imagine, for a moment, that Chris Harrison is the patron saint of dating, and the gospel of The Bachelor is the single gal’s love bible. It stands to reason, then, that the first commandment of courting would surely be: “Tell thy date thy deepest, darkest secret as soon as thou cannest.” (Chilling, right?) While pouring your heart out on a first date is kind of a ratings necessity of reality TV, the same practice rarely yields a rose in real life. In fact, beyond the discomfort you’ll likely feel after revealing that you, say, have $200,000 in student loan debt or were a child star in Canada, it’s a promising way to scare away a potential love interest. Yet, the opposite end of the spectrum can also be problematic: You certainly don’t want to wait until you’ve been married for a decade to disclose that you have a long-lost twin sister living in Albuquerque. So when is the right time to bring up important info that isn’t quite first-date material? And how do you do it in a way that causes the least amount of stress to your relationship? Well it’s complicated since there’s no hard-and-fast deadline for spilling your soul to your S.O. Just because you’ve been dating six months, or a year, or even two years doesn’t automatically mean you’re ready to share (or that they’re ready to listen). Trust, says relationship expert Terri Orbuch, PhD, author of Finding Love Again: 6
No, your mushroom coffee isn’t going to eff with your gut
February 06, 2019 at 01:39PM by CWC Similar to squeezing lemon into a cup of hot water, adding adaptogens to smoothies, coffee, or tea is one of those beverage boosters every in-the-know wellness lover swears by. Hey, any little habit that works to protect your body from stress is worth adopting, right? I know I thought so. Which is why I was a bit…surprised when I read on Bulletproof founder Dave Asprey’s blog that some types of adaptogenic mushrooms could cause flareups of small intestinal bacteria overgrowth (SIBO)—an imbalance of gut bacteria that causes gas, bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and potentially improper nutrient absorption. Um, what? Suddenly completely freaked out by the reishi next to my favorite coffee cup, I decided to investigate. I turned to Bindiya Gandhi, MD, an integrative health doctor, and Simone Wan, a certified Traditional Chinese Medicine expert and the founder of IN:Total Wellness, for some clarity. Unpacking the relationship between adaptogens and your gut The good news: Neither Dr. Gandhi nor Wan say they’ve seen any scientific evidence that adaptogens directly cause SIBO. (Phew!) The condition has numerous other causes, says Dr. Gandhi, including parasites or long-term use of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) like Prilosec for acid reflux. “Food sensitivities can also lead to SIBO,” she says. “If you are unaware of what you’re sensitive to and you keep consuming it, [it] can then lead to inflammation in the gut.” But so far, adding adaptogens to your coffee is not proven to be one of them. If your stomach
CBD is off the menu at some of the nation’s restaurants thanks to new regulations
February 06, 2019 at 12:52PM by CWC In recent years, CBD—or cannabidiol—has gone mainstream with a reputation for giving people a feeling of calm without the “high.” As its popularity soared, the cannabinoid found its way into everything from beauty products to post-workout creams. But one of the best ways to enjoy its effects is by eating (or drinking!) it. Unfortunately, new CBD edibles regulations make buying foods that contain cannabidiol a little more difficult in certain parts of the country. In New York, you’ll find CBD oil in lattes, cocktails, and cupcakes. (Even By Chloe is getting in on the fun.) But health officials are taking steps to crack down on the ingredient within the city’s eateries. According to The New York Times, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has ordered restaurants under its jurisdiction to stop selling any foods that contain CBD, reasoning that restaurants are not “permitted to add anything to food or drink that is not approved as safe to eat.” Currently, that includes CBD. So long as confusion surrounding CBDs legality and safety continues, don’t expect to find it making its way back onto any menus. New York isn’t the only area experiencing changes with CBD edibles regulations. It’s also been reported that Maine, where recreational marijuana is legal since 2016, has been ordered to stop selling CBD edibles; Ohio, which legalized medical marijuana in 2016, is making changes on the CBD food front, too. When President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law, it was seen as a
The dainty bralettes for larger breasts that passed our DD test
February 06, 2019 at 12:42PM by CWC Bralettes have taunted me all of my life. When I was younger, it was because I couldn’t even begin to fathom wearing one as even my everyday bras were coming from specialty stores. Now, it’s because the ones available for women my size (36 DD) are very heavy on the utilitarian aspect and way too light on the chic, aesthetically pleasing part. But after a lifetime of disappointment, I’m starting to see the size inclusive light at the end of my online shopping tunnel. A few underwear companies have finally figured out how to make a bralette for bigger boobs that can do both. You see, it’s not that I can’t find bralettes for my cup size—supportive options without underwires exist. But the problem is that these tend to look like a sports bra or are simple by design. There’s none of the delicate lace, pastel colors, or subtleties that the item often conjures. And those dainty and effortless touches are the essence of what a bralette is and what I’m searching for in the undergarment. I’ve put a dozen different bralettes through my own customized fit test. With these criteria in mind, I’ve put a dozen different bralettes through my own customized fit test using some very basic measurements of success. Number one was the fit, obviously—there just needed to be enough support that the bralette wouldn’t become relegated to the confines of my loungewear wardrobe. In other words, I wanted to be able to
How Drew Barrymore’s nutritionist turns a plain banana into a healthy dessert
February 06, 2019 at 12:12PM by CWC When I get a hankering for something sweet, I need to satisfy it as soon as possible. I don’t always stock my apartment with what I’d need to whip up a quality dessert, but I do always have a fruit bowl full of bananas. And Drew Barrymore’s nutritionist has the banana dessert recipe I didn’t know I’d been been searching for. I’m not going to tell you to eat a plain banana for dessert. That’s, well, just bananas. Celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder is a master at helping people beat their cravings the healthy way. Drew Barrymore often raves about Snyder, saying recently that working with her has “totally changed her life.” And I think Barrymore would agree that Snyder’s banana upgrade is pretty impressive, too. “When it comes to making dessert, not many people think about reaching for a banana, but I sure do,” Snyder writes on Instagram. “I love bananas and I believe they’re one of nature’s perfect foods. They come right off a tree in their complete nutritional ‘package.’ Loaded with nutrients, high in fiber, and easy to digest…what’s not to love?” Transforming a regular ol’ banana into an even sweeter treat is simple. All you have to do is cut open the peel from end to end and fill it up with nut butter and cacao nibs (which can help you calm down before bed, BTW). Pop it in the freezer for a while and then you’ll be able to dig in with a spoon.