December 27, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC To paraphrase a colleague, Cats reviews are becoming my favorite genre of journalism right now. The other night I stayed up until 2 am reading about how this monstrosity of a film—like watching the least appealing Snapchat face filters on a very bad acid trip—should not exist, let alone seen by human eyes. And naturally…I kind of want to see it. Not pay for it, but see it. This is because nothing gets our curiosity piqued high quite like a bad review. And the stronger the negativity that’s communicated from the outset, the likelier it is that people will subject themselves to enduring the torture. Take, for example, a case from a few months ago, when famed Brooklyn institution Peter Luger Steak House got decimated in a zero-star New York Times review. The effect? Not a shuttered business but rather even more five-stars reviews on the restaurant’s Yelp page that same week. Likewise, despite Well+Good’s recent communal loathing of SweetGreen 3.0, nearly the entire editorial staff still insisted on visiting the store to see what the deal with it is. And, psychologically speaking, it totally makes sense why. “When something notable happens, everyone wants a piece of it,” says psychotherapist Jennifer Silvershein, LCSW, adding that here, “notable” can certainly include “unsavory.” “Historically, when there’s a bad car accident on the side of the road, or a car is pulled over, it instantly begins [a stream of] traffic because people are slowing down to see
Category: Your Healthiest Relationship
How to prep your kitchen for the healthiest, most delicious year yet
December 27, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC After a stressful fall and winter spent subsisting on microwaved burritos and takeout Thai because my fridge is always empty and my time is always short, I’m obsessed with the idea of completely revamping my kitchen over the holiday break in order to set myself up for healthier habits in the new year. Currently, I have no idea what I even have in stock and how much of it is expired—let alone what I could make with any of it. This doesn’t bode well for my resolutions, says Kimberly Snyder, CN, a holistic wellness expert and the New York Times best-selling author of Recipes for Your Perfectly Imperfect Life. “The key to eating healthy and sticking to your New Year’s resolutions is always being prepared,” she says. “If your pantry and fridge are stocked with lots of healthy, easy food options, you’ll be a lot less likely to cave and order takeout.” I’m pretty sure my current stock—half a jar of year-old kimchi, moldy snap peas from who knows when, and whatever is hiding behind the instant ramen in my pantry—doesn’t count as “healthy, easy food options,” so I’m going to have to put a little elbow grease into prepping to delete my Seamless app. Below, Snyder and registered dietitian Whitney English, MS, RDN, of Plant-Based Juniors offer me (and you) their best tips for food-based resolution-enabling kitchen organization. 7 pre-2020 kitchen-centric tips to set you up for your healthiest year yet 1. Edit ruthlessly
This is exactly how much plastic you eat each week—and how to avoid it
December 27, 2019 at 02:30PM by CWC A recent study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund found that humans consume about a credit card’s worth of plastic each week. Microplastics—defined as particles of plastic measuring anywhere from one micron to five millimeters that enter our food, water, and the atmosphere—have only been closely studied in labs in for the last couple decades, so their longterm effects on human health are largely unknown. “It’s only been the last four or five years that the general public was like, ‘This isn’t only about suffocating the ocean, but my family’,” says Peter Ross, PhD, microplastics expert and vice president of research at Ocean Wise. We’ve seen examples of what happens to wildlife when they encounter large bodies of plastic in their habitats, whether a fish swallows a bottle cap or a turtle mistakes a plastic bag for jellyfish. And when it comes to humans, we know to take our little cousin to the emergency room when they swallow a plastic toy to ward off a potential intestinal blockage or rupture, or, less commonly, chemical toxicity from plastic lined with flame-retardants or phthalates. But what about those plastics we can’t see or feel? “We’re at the point where many governments around the world are saying, ‘We know that microplastics are harmful to biological life, but we’re not clear as to what the risks are in humans,” says Dr. Ross. The not knowing is what can be so unsettling. As if microplastics weren’t anxiety-inducing enough
Choosing to go to my high school reunion taught me the biggest lesson of my decade
December 27, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC We rolled up in Sonia’s mom’s minivan, driven by Sonia’s little sister, which simultaneously made me feel teenage and ancient. In reality, I am 28. The Romy and Michelle year. The Grosse Pointe Blank year. The year pop culture declares you show up to your high school reunion Full Adult and dressed to impress. And granted, 28-year-old me had her gameface on. But my inner 18-year-old, with her yellow bangs, combat boots, and grandma cardigans was like, “You sure you want to do this?” I rebelled to everything, as long as it wasn’t challenging. I felt so inherently different than my classmates that I shut them out. Like, ACTIVELY. I mean, even my friends rocking liberty spikes and mohawks joined the powderpuff team. But I was a committed Misery Chick, running with this idea that I was “strange” and it would be easier to reject my classmates before they rejected me. I was so preoccupied with being an outsider that I skipped senior prom and, yes, I know it was just a lot of barely legal teens wearing Jovani gowns and grinding to “Gasolina.” But I instantly regretted that. And so, my 10 year reunion became a big, exalted metaphorical make-up quiz. I needed to be Peak Mary Grace, or I could not go. You understand, right? Growing up, I saw a high reunion was the one opportunity to catch up with classmates and (hopefully) debut a glow-up that started the second you get to college
The psychological reason breakups lead us to re-prioritize our friendships
December 27, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC While navigating a breakup with a long-term serious partner earlier this year, I found myself with a lot of spare time on my hands, and a lot of feelings to sort through. That’s when I noticed myself reaching out to friends I earnestly love despite having not spent so much time with them during the length of my since broken relationship. This act of a rekindling friendship after a breakup felt natural, but also dirty and opportunistic—I couldn’t figure out quite why. In this era of solo everything, from solo travel and solo working to solo sex (okay the last one is just masturbation, but still), it can be tough to admit that you need someone…especially if that’s someone you ditched before you met whats-their-face. But according to psychotherapist and relationship counselor Larry Letich, LCSW, this isn’t the marker of a fair-weather friend but rather someone whose basic survival instincts are kicking in. “Humans are social creatures. For all of the talk about being ‘self-sufficient,’ we really aren’t evolutionarily designed to survive alone.” —Larry Letich, LCSW “Humans are social creatures,” says Letich. “For all of the talk about being ‘self-sufficient,’ we really aren’t evolutionarily designed to survive alone. Back a couple of thousand centuries ago, to be alone and cut off from everyone else meant a quick death, pure and simple. The fact that we don’t have to worry about saber-toothed tigers, and we get our food from a supermarket down the block doesn’t change
The 3-part skin-care equation that will make stressed-out skin a thing of the past
December 27, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC Stress. It’s happening all the time to our skin whether we like it or not. Internally, we’re dealing with mountains of modern-day mayhem that sends stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol soaring. Externally, we’re confronted with environmental aggressors such as UV exposure and pollution that can take a toll on our complexions. And when you add all of this up, you’re often left with breakouts, redness, and an overall compromised skin barrier. When you’re stressed internally, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode. “It goes back to when human beings were living in prehistoric times,” says Dennis Gross, MD, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare, a brand that just released a trio of skin-care products formulated for stressed-out complexions. “It wasn’t about anything more than survival, so when faced with animals like a saber-toothed tiger, they’d react with the fight-or-flight response. It’s the same in the modern day. When you get an email from your boss, you get increased elevations of adrenaline and cortisol.” With these two stress hormones pumping throughout your body, certain physiological things happen. “You have to ration your blood flow, so you’d have to send more blood to your heart so it can pump faster, more blood to your lungs so that they can expand, and more blood to your brain so you can make split-second decisions,” says Dr. Gross. Because these reactions are happening to keep your vital organs operating at their optimal function, your
The only thing better than these pigmentation-correcting serums is Fraxel
December 27, 2019 at 02:30AM by CWC Hyperpigmentation can come from any number of things: acne, rashes, bug bites—you name it. If you’re willing to drop a few thousand dollars on Fraxel Skin Resurfacing Treatment, you can treat hyperpigmentation at your dermatologist’s office. But if you’re just not ready for that kind of investment, a few hyperpigmentation serums are the next best thing. “Pigment-fighting serums block abnormal pigment production or enhance cell turnover to shed pigment,” says dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD. “Ingredients like vitamin C, Kojic acid, arbutin, and licorice root extract all work in the same pathway of pigment production. Alpha hydroxy acids and ingredients like retinol enhance cell turnover.” Below, Dr. Zeichner offers up his go-to hyperpigmentation serums. Keep this one timing note in mind, though: “I usually recommend antioxidants and other pigment blocking ingredients in the morning and products that enhance cell turnover in the evening before bed,” he says. Make sure you’re applying your ingredients-of-choice at a suitable time. The 3 hyperpigmentation serums to add to your beauty shelf, stat Photo: Ghost Democracy 1. GHOST DEMOCRACY LIGHTBULB VITAMIN C SERUM, $34 “Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that interferes with excess production,” says Dr. Zeichner. “It also calms inflammation in the skin to help right now and even skin tone.” Photo: Target 2. AVEENO POSITIVELY RADIANT MAXGLOW INFUSION DROPS SERUM, $18 “Soy extract brightens excess pigmentation and even skin tone,” says Dr. Zeichner. And the best news of all? You can buy this pick at the
Can a hot toddy actually help you feel better when you’re sick?
December 27, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC When you’re stuck in bed coughing up a lung, you’ll basically agree to drink any potion that promises an instant cure. And while hot toddies have long been a feel-good wintry cocktail of choice, certain folks claim it helps them feel better when they’re sick, too. But is there any truth to their immune-boosting benefits? Yes and no. First, the good news: a hot toddy, made of whiskey, water, honey, and sometimes add-ons like cinnamon, cloves and lemon, does contain some beneficial ingredients. Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory properties, the scent of lemon has been proven to boost mood (which we can all use when we can only breathe out of one nostril), and honey has a soothing effect on a sore throat and cough, according to Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You from Label to Table. Research also finds honey helpful in killing viruses and bacterial pathogens. Now for the bad news: The thing is that you shouldn’t need to use alcohol as a vehicle for consuming these beneficial ingredients since it can be dehydrating, according to Taub-Dix, and thus prolong your illness—especially if you’re sweating profusely with a fever, or losing lots of liquids from a bout of vomiting and diarrhea. And while alcohol can technically help you fall asleep faster, you might have trouble staying asleep, according to Taub-Dix. While whiskey might aid in digestion (hence your grandfather’s post-dinner whiskey on
Real talk: How worried should I be about histamines in food?
December 27, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC When I think about histamines, I think about anti-histamines, AKA OTC allergy meds, and how itchy my face gets whenever I’m around my aunt’s cats. But histamine in food? That has never crossed my mind. Or, at least, it didn’t until an appointment with a naturopathic doctor revealed that I had high levels of histamine in my blood—and that my healthy diet was apparently chock-full with high-histamine foods. Confused? Yeah, so was I. But apparently there’s more to histamines than pet dander and pollen—and some of us may need to tweak our daily menu to keep from feeling itchy and puffy 24/7. What are histamines? Let’s back up for a sec: “Histamines are a compound naturally produced by the body—mostly by the immune system—in response to injury or allergic reaction,” explains Rebekah Blakely, RDN, dietitian for The Vitamin Shoppe. You know how pollen in the springtime makes your nose run and your eyes itch? Those symptoms are caused by histamines at work, trying to rid your body of the pollen. Histamines can increase blood flow, heart rate, and contractions in the lungs and digestive tract, Blakely says. The result: symptoms like runny nose, watery or itchy eyes, sinus congestion, wheezing, or stomach cramps we often associate with allergies. When you pop an OTC anti-histamine, you essentially block these annoying—but potentially necessary—effects. Histamines have other jobs in the body, too. “They communicate with the brain and support digestion, by triggering the release of stomach
Supersets can help you build strength quickly—as long as you’re doing them correctly
December 27, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC My brain basically short-circuits when faced with too many decisions, which is always what happens when I try to come up with exercises to do on my own at the gym. I need someone to tell me what to do, so I can turn that part of my brain off, which is why I enjoy group classes. When left to my own devices at the gym, I typically hop on the treadmill and just go for a run. But when one of my friends mentioned supersets, my interest was piqued. (The treadmill gets boring.) So what is a superset? And how is it different than circuit training? I asked Corey Phelps, NASM-CPT, to explain. “A superset is two strength exercises performed back to back with no rest in between,” Phelps says. Circuit training can contain both strength and cardio moves, and it combines more than two exercises, she says. “Supersets are great for so many reasons, specifically, supersets are beneficial to building muscle and strength quickly. This happens by overloading the muscles and creating greater intensity. Another great benefit is they save tons of time… perfect for someone on a time crunch. Lunch workout anyone?” she says. When deciding which two exercises to pair together, it’s important to look at your goals, Phelps says. Are you looking for a full-body workout? Or do you want to target a specific area? “If you are trying to maximize time for a total body workout then