February 04, 2020 at 07:30PM by CWC Fact: cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. Want to live a long time? Protect your heart. Genetic predisposition certainly plays a role, but there’s a lot in your control—including what you put on your plate. What you eat is directly linked to your heart health. We asked three cardiologists to share the heart-healthy eating recommendations they give to everyone who walks into their offices. The cardiologist-approved golden rules for heart-healthy eating 1. Read the nutrition label This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s so easy to get lured in by clever marketing and flashy packaging that the nutrition label on foods often gets ignored. “Nutrition facts labels contain valuable information needed to help you choose food wisely,” says Aurelio Duran, MD, of the Orlando Health Heart Institute. “Calories, fat, sodium, and protein are some of the information to consider.” Avoid foods high in saturated fat and sodium, which is definitely bad news for your heart, he says. 2. avoid added sugars While you’re eyeing the nutritional label, Dr. Duran says to be conscious of added sugars, including the various pseudonyms for sugar that companies use to deceive consumers. “Added sugars increase risk for diabetes and other heart disease risk factors,” he says. “People who eat large amounts of added sugar—25 percent or more of their calories—have double the chance of dying from heart disease than those who limit their added sugar to less than 10
Category: Your Healthiest Relationship
Training like an athlete boosts more than just your strength—here’s how
February 04, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC You may notice a subtle change in the workouts that you’re doing in fitness studios these days. Mixed in with your classic strength training and cardio intervals, there’s a high probability you’ll be doing athletic conditioning drills that you’ve only previously seen professional athletes do on ESPN (or that take you back to two-a-days training in high school #tbt). Take a look around your gym, and you’re likely to see that treadmills and ellipticals are making ways for turf, tires, and sleds. “People want to feel more like they’re training like athletes—they want to be more athletic,” says Chase Weber, a Los Angeles-based celebrity trainer. Rather than simply cranking out reps with dumbbells, with athletic training, there’s more of a focus on dynamic movements (think: lateral bounding or ladder drills), which is functional training that helps you to work in multiple planes. When a tennis star or basketball pro does this type of training, you see it in how quickly they can respond on the court, but when you do it IRL, you’ll see a host of improvements in day-to-day life that range from improving your reflexes to having more side-to-side mobility. According to Weber, sports-inspired workouts activate your fast-twitch muscle fibers, which help with power and agility. “You learn how to work with your body in a better motion. Instead of doing linear movements or working straight up and down, athletic training is more dynamic, more nimble, and more mobile, which then plays into
5 gloriously healthy, semi-homemade dinners you can have on the table in under 10 minutes
February 04, 2020 at 06:30PM by CWC Every once in a while, you may get the itch to walk on the wild side of the kitchen and—gasp—prepare a complicated recipe from scratch. You chop all your veggies to one-eighth-inch (aka a French “brunoise”), knead your own pizza dough as sweat beads on your forehead, and accidentally take out an eyebrow as you flambé. (Okay, hopefully not that last part.) Most of the time, though, it makes sense to skip the drama and opt for simple dinner recipes that cut prep time in half—and don’t equate to a HIIT workout. For those nights when you want to keep dinner on the chill side, Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, registered dietitian and host of Well+Good’s You Versus Food, is coming in clutch with five recipes that combine fresh and healthy packaged ingredients for no-mess meals that will be on the table in minutes. From Asian-inspired noodles to riffs on Italian favorites like chicken parm, these are Beckerman’s weeknight go-to’s. They’re so easy to throw together that you don’t even need a formal recipe or instructions. Just combine the ingredients and eat up. 5 simple dinner recipes that make the most out of pre-made ingredients All Graphics: Well+Good Creative Monday: Asian-style veggie noodles Nailing the perfect Asian-inspired sauce can often require using a ton of different ingredients—which doesn’t always translate into weeknight-friendly cooking. Haven’s Kitchen’s lemongrass sauce takes that off your plate—metaphorically-speaking—so you can make the entire dish in minutes. Plus, Beckerman says the water-dense zucchini noodles
Why giving your taste buds something new can be good for you—in more ways than one
February 04, 2020 at 05:49PM by CWC If you’re a creature of habit (guilty), your eating routine is probably down to a scripted science: meal prep, eat, and repeat until you finally decide you’re over it. Trying new foods on the reg? Not necessarily on the menu. There’s a reason why so many people repeat the same rice, chicken, and broccoli combo, though: Routine provides a sense of control and order. And while peace of mind is an obvious “yes please,” getting creative and outside of your comfort zone could do more for you. First, a little science: Research shows that your taste buds send neurochemical signals to your brain communicating sweet, salty, sour, or umami (savory) flavors. Your taste receptors have about 10 different levels of sensitivity, which means we can taste up to 100,000 flavors (yep, there’s a whole wide world out there). At the same time, taste buds can change or diminish as you age—which means that something you previously found too intense, you suddenly might not be able to get enough of. Translation: Now is a good time to try something new. “Exploring new foods and drinks can be beneficial to your health because consuming a wide variety of nutrients from varied sources helps your body function at its best,” Juhy Ali, RD says. Speaking of richer experiences, try starting with something specific like KeVita’s delicious probiotic drinks. From Master Brew Kombucha to Sparkling Probiotic Drink, they come in tons of flavors like Mojita Lime Mint
Some of the best beauty products have notorious scents—here’s why
February 04, 2020 at 05:00PM by CWC Everyone warned me before I first started using the iconic beauty product Biologique Recherche P50 ($67) that it had… a smell. As soon as I swiped the acid toner all over my face, the aroma hit my nose, and I had to remind myself that it’s a holy-grail product for a reason. I kept on slathering and in no time, I too, could see why everyone clamored for it. Now, I associate the smell with a radiant complexion and winding down at nighttime. In the beauty world, a stinky scent is no reason to be deterred, though. P50, SkinMedica TNS Serum ($281), and SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic Serum ($166), for instance, all have scents that are left of center. “I can totally understand why people would shy away from skin-care products that smell unpleasant,” says Shirley Chi, MD, a Los Angeles-based dermatologist. “But that being said, there are many reasons to work through this. Some of the most effective anti-aging treatments out there smell.” “Some of the most effective anti-aging treatments out there smell.” —Dr. Shirley Chi Angelina Umansky, star facialist and founder of Spa Radiance, agrees, noting that her spa’s top sellers are these three aforementioned beauty products “because they perform,” she tells me. “These brands formulate to give consumers results. Period.” And results are what you get when you slather on these star beauty products. For example, that TNS Serum? It’s got human-growth factor in it. “SkinMedica TNS is one of the
A physical therapist and a stretching expert explain how to tell if you’re overstretching
February 04, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC Hot yoga is perfect when you’re feeling tight, because the heat loosens your muscles, allowing you to go a bit deeper. But sometimes, you can feel a little too open. I’ve definitely had moments where I popped into a pose way too easily, and felt like I was overstretching my muscle to a length it had no business going. Co-founder of Body Evolved and physical therapist Corinne Croce, DPT, explains that the issue here is lack of control, which is something that can happen with or without heat. “Flexibility is the available length a tissue has and can be moved into,” says Croce. “Mobility is the ability to move and control the tissue throughout a range of motion. Without control over ones available range of motion/tissue length, injury risk is higher.” Austin Martinez, the director of education at StretchLab, says strength is the key to maintaining control. “There’s no point just being as flexible as s pretzel or a gymnast if you don’t have the proper strength to protect your body within that range of motion,” says Martinez, who is also a certified trainer and strength and conditioning specialist. “On the flip side there’s, no point of being, you know, the world’s biggest bodybuilder, if you can’t even put your hands behind your back.” You can be overstretched in a few different ways. “Overstretching typically means the length of the tissue is greater than ones ability to control said length,” she says. “It can also
How to get over trust issues so they don’t sour an old or new relationship
February 04, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC Trust is like a mirror. Depending on how badly it’s broken, you can fix it to an extent, but you’re always going to at least see cracks in the reflection. Sure, I’m paraphrasing Beyoncé and Lady Gaga from the “Telephone” video here, but the sentiment rings still extremely true. When someone shatters your trust in a relationship that’s new or old, it can really smash your emotional looking glass and make seeing anything clearly a tough challenge to overcome, no matter how diligently you try. And if you notice your fixation on those cracks hurting your current relationship—even if your issues are deeply rooted and have nothing directly to do with your current relationship—you might be wondering how to get over trust issues. But before diving into that huge emotional undertaking of mental and emotional strength, awareness, and work, know that building trust isn’t easy. It requires a lot of time, commitment, and, most importantly, vulnerability. You are holding your heart in your hands, offering it to someone else, and essentially saying, “Here is this gushy, sensitive organ of mine—please don’t mess with it.” So when someone cheats on you or breaks up with you or commits to any other action that leads you to feel like you made a grave mistake in opening up your heart and world, it’s as if the universe is gaslighting you. And that’s tough to get over. “It can be a long road to rebuild that trust,”
The best workout for you to try, based on your Myers-Briggs type
February 04, 2020 at 01:00PM by CWC If you’re someone who simply doesn’t like to work out, have you ever considered that perhaps you haven’t tried the modality that really does it for you? And even if you do like a solid sweat sesh, you might not be fully aware of other fitness options that really rev you up. That’s might be because there are so many different kinds of exercise these days that are practically as disparate and unique as our personalities. Whether you prefer efficiency (like an ESFP), routine (like an ISFJ), or novelty (like an ENFP), there’s a workout out there for you. Below, learn what you should try next, based on your Myers-Briggs personality type, which takes into account what you value when you move. (Don’t know what your MBTI is? Read this first!) Check out the best kinds of exercise for you to try, according to your Myers-Briggs type. W+G Creative ISFJ: Running ISFJs are creatures of habit, but high-achievers nonetheless. Running is the perfect exercise for you, because it allows you to master and perfect your technique while also improving your endurance. You may even enjoy running the same paths again and again, so you can tune out the world as you get into shape. ESFJ: Barre Your attention to detail is natural, so why not bring that into your fitness routine? Barre’s precision-training method will tone muscles at the micro level, which you can incorporate into your already super-active lifestyle. Setting aside regular
This is the one supplement every woman should be taking, according to a naturopathic doctor
February 04, 2020 at 10:30AM by CWC Ever walked down a supplement aisle at a health food store and felt completely overwhelmed? Same, same. But it turns out you can give your health a boost without transforming your vitamin cabinet into an equally overwhelming replica of said health food store. According to Erin Stokes, ND, registered naturopathic doctor and MegaFood® medical director, finding supplements that are specifically beneficial to women is a great place to start when you want to be sure what you’re taking will actually help with your needs. “Women have specific health needs that are different from men, and a gender-specific multivitamin can address those unique needs,” Stokes says. Given that modern food’s nutrient density has declined over the last few decades, Stokes says a multi could benefit virtually anyone—but it’s important to know what to look for in a multivitamin. If you do decide to go that route, Stokes recommends a gender- and age-specific vitamin formula. MegaFood—which pairs vitamins and minerals with real food to create premium supplements—is your one-stop-shop for a multivitamin that suits your lifestyle. Whether you’re looking for a tablet, soft chew, or a powder that dissolves into your favorite smoothie, taking your daily multi just got way less complicated. Scroll down for Stokes’ notes on what to look for in a multivitamin and the ingredients you don’t want to miss out on. Iron One main difference between women and men? Women need to replenish the iron they lose during their periods
Hitting a plateau on your healthy meal prep? These better-for-you swaps will put you back on track
February 04, 2020 at 10:00AM by CWC When you hit a fitness plateau, the easy fix is trying a new class or lifting heavier weights in your next gym sesh. But when your motivation to meal prep starts to wilt like your third-day salads, it can be tough to find the inspiration to stick with the healthy-eating commitment you made at the beginning of January. One trick that has full RD approval? Instead of opting for salads all day, every day (because, boring), keep your tastebuds from yawning by making foods you actually like—but with a few healthier ingredient swaps to make them a total nutritional win. Keep your tastebuds from yawning by making foods you actually like—with a few healthier ingredient swaps. If you’re not sure what constitutes a healthy swap other than subbing white rice for cauliflower rice, the new OptUP app will be your new back-pocket partner in crime the next time you hit the grocery store. The nutrition-scoring tool ranks food from one to 100 and provides better-for-you suggestions personalized to your tastes. It’s basically like having your own personal dietitian riding around in your cart with you. “Many of us dive in too quickly when committing to a new nutrition goal,” says Ashley Martinez, MFN, RDN, LD, culinary dietitian at Kroger Health. “Instead of making drastic changes in your eating pattern, OptUP demonstrates how to make small, yet realistic shifts in your food selections, and encourages you to gradually select higher-scoring products over time on