October 04, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC When dealing with a cold, most of us are probably mainlining lozenges and tea while reaching for a box of tissues. But anyone dealing with the obnoxious symptoms for more than a few days is probably willing to try anything to feel better—including resorting to random remedies recommended by grandma (or various Reddit forums). One that seems to be getting some traction is honey water. Honey water is…exactly what it sounds like. “Honey water is simply water with honey dissolved in it. Sometimes, lemon is added, especially when people are using it for a sore throat or immune boost, or to add flavor,” says Kelly Jones, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN. Sounds delicious…but can it do anything for you besides tasting good? “Honey has been shown to benefit immune health in a variety of studies,” Jones says. “It contains some antioxidants that contribute to functions that protect the body from stress.” She adds that honey has antimicrobial and antibacterial properties that could be helpful, although there are few large clinical trials confirming these benefits. (Read: Don’t throw out your meds and replace them with honey.) Manuka honey in particular has extensive cold-fighting potential—it has certain de-congestant and anti-inflammatory properties, Tracey Lockwood Beckerman, RD, previously told Well+Good. Honey can also be helpful if your cold comes with a side of hacking cough. “The texture of honey also allows it to coat the throat and act as an effective cough suppressant. Several studies have found it
Category: Your Regeneration
Checks+Balanced: How a post-grad living in Nashville budgets for a plant-based diet
October 04, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC Chances are, you talk with your friends about that embarrassing thing that happened to you at yoga and the ins and outs of sex. But for some reason, money talk remains off limits. People want to live their healthiest life ever, but—#realtalk—it can add up. Have you ever wondered how your colleague who makes less than you do (or so you think) can afford to buy a $5 matcha and a $12 chopped salad every day? Or how your friend’s budget allows her to hit up $34 fitness classes three times a week? It’s enough to make anyone want to ask, “Ummm, excuse me. How do you afford that?!?” That’s where Well+Good’s monthly series Checks+Balanced comes in. By lifting the thick, tightly drawn curtain to expose how much women of varying income brackets spend on wellness, we’re spreading transparency and hopefully providing some inspo that’s possible to copy. Because no matter how much you make, it’s possible to cultivate healthy habits that work within your budget. This month, meet Lauren Barlow, a 22-year old health-care sales specialist living in Nashville, Tennessee. She’s navigating her first full-time job while upholding healthy habits she cares about, like being plant-based on a budget. Keep reading to see how she manages. Here, a 22-year-old health-care sales specialist living in Nashville shares how she maintains healthy habits on an entry-level salary. Graphic by Well+Good Creative Lauren Barlow, 22, health-care sales specialist, Nashville Income: $38,400 per year. I work as a health-care
This common nutritional disorder might be why you’re so tired—here’s how to get your energy back, according to an RD
October 04, 2019 at 04:30AM by CWC Pop quiz: How many people do you think are low in iron? Considering 1.6 billion people (which is about a quarter of the world’s population, btw) are anemic, and an estimated 30 to 50 percent of them have iron-deficiency anemia, that puts the answer to our math problem at around… 800 million. Guess right? If those giant numbers are blowing your mind, let us break it down for you. Anemia—when your blood doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells—affects a lot of people, and it can have a pretty major impact on your health. “If you don’t have enough iron, you don’t have enough hemoglobin, because your body needs iron to make hemoglobin,” explains Robyn Nohling, FNP, RD, MSN, and owner of Real Life Women’s Health. “Hemoglobin is really important because it’s how your body transports oxygen to your tissues, organs and muscles.” Safe to say iron is a must-have-at-all times kind of nutrient. Photo: Robyn Nohling So how do you know if you’re iron deficient or not? “A big sign is people often feel tired,” Nohling says. “They might also feel short of breath doing everyday activities that didn’t used to leave them feeling short of breath.” In the past, Nohling struggled with low iron levels, which made it difficult for her to focus and left her feeling like she had to drag herself out of bed in the morning. Sound familiar? If your body is nudging you to bump up your intake,
Being more culturally sensitive is crucial for combatting mental health stigma—here’s how to start
October 04, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC Growing up in my Panamanian household, the term mental health was often synonymous with being homeless, a drug addict, or “crazy.” In my Catholic, middle class, two-family household sustained on the backs of two immigrants, I was taught that whatever I struggled with in life could be overcome by learning to be more motivated and not complaining about whatever I had. I love my family, but this view of mental health meant that when I started struggling with body image, self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, and self-harm when I was 16, I knew I couldn’t open up about my problems to my parents. Instead, with the guidance of a friend, I started seeing my school therapist—which was the gateway to me knowing what it felt like to ask for help. As I got older and began to learn more about mental health while studying for my Master’s degree in social work, I started to understand why mental health carries such a heavy stigma in black and brown communities. Many share the view of my parents that if our ancestors survived slavery, we should be able to carry the weight of stress on our shoulders. I’ve heard other people cite the need to be strong, because therapy has been seen as a resort for the weak—and weakness is something that black people can’t afford to feel in the face of oppression and racism. It doesn’t help that minority communities, particularly African Americans, have a history of
5 tips for not assuming the worst when your boss schedules an unexpected meeting
October 04, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC Face time with your boss is often a great thing: It provides you the perfect opportunity to show off your knowledge and what you’re contributing to your team. But if your manager ever unexpectedly asks you for a one on one meeting, and you have no idea why or what might be coming, you might well feel pretty uneasy about it. Even if it’s plausible and probable that the purpose of the non-routine meeting is to go over details of a new project you’re working on, it’s easy to assume the worst, like that you’re about to be reprimanded or even fired. If this mental downward spiral is familiar to you, at least you can rest easy knowing that it’s totally normal. “In the absence of information, our minds make up the worst,” says counselor David Klow, LMFT, adding that it’s a protective mechanism to keep us prepared for any just-in-case situations. (It’s also, for instance, why your mind goes straight to catastrophic thinking when you get an unexpected phone call from a loved one.) “You don’t need to prepare for best-case scenarios,” says psychologist Simon Rego, PsyD. This gut reaction is likely an evolutionary holdout from times when there were more threats to safety on a daily basis. “It’s a higher-stakes game when you’re worried about encountering a saber-toothed tiger when you leave the cave,” he says. “Now, your brain just says there’s an important thing that’s about to happen, and it
The next frontier of GMOs: fighting climate change?
October 03, 2019 at 11:30PM by CWC In case you haven’t heard, Earth is having a serious health crisis right now. According to the world’s top climate scientists, we only have a decade to turn the tides of global warming and keep the planet’s temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. If that doesn’t happen, we’re likely to face harsher droughts, fires, storms, and heat waves than the world has ever seen. Another likely victim of climate change? Our food system. According to a recent United Nations panel, food shortage could be one of the most serious side-effects of climate change. If the global temperature were to rise by even two degrees Celsius—a very real possibility considering the trajectory we’re on now—extreme weather could throw off crops’ growing seasons, make land inhospitable to farming, and make crops vulnerable to disease. Complicating matters even more, there will be approximately 10 billion people on earth by 2050—today, the global population is around 7.7 billion—which means we will need to produce about 56 percent more food over the next 30 years. Some experts claim that technology has already given us a powerful tool to address some of these issues: genetically engineered (GE) crops, more commonly known as GMOs. Of course, the pros and cons of GMOs have been hotly debated. Studies show that GMO foods are safe for human consumption, but many experts believe more research needs to be done before we can be sure that they’re risk-free in the long term.
Weight distribution is the key to workout longevity—here’s how to test yours right now
October 03, 2019 at 11:00PM by CWC When I walk through the doors of my neighborhood gym, I’m usually too focused on my impending workout to care much about what’s going to happen in an hour, much less in a decades. The truth is though, every movement sweat-lovers do right now improves the longevity of our bodies. Jason Pak, trainer and founder of Achieve Fitness in Boston, says that paying attention to weight distribution in particular is the key to keeping your body safe and functional well into the distant future. “You can get away with inefficiencies with [improper balance] in the short term, but in the long term if you’re looking for optimal health, strength, and longevity, you’d be really well off if you were mindful of your weight distribution during all exercises,” writes the coach in a recent Instagram caption. Why? Proper weight distribution forces your center of mass to land smack-dab in the middle of your stance, ensuring that you don’t place too much weight on any one body part. View this post on Instagram IS YOUR SQUAT BALANCED?! – What’s up, Achievers?! @jasonlpak here with a quick post talking about squats. So, one thing we’re always looking at when we coach our members is not just their form and alignment, but their overall balance when executing an exercise. You can have a “neutral” spine, hit below parallel, put a lot of weight on your back, and still not be as efficient as you could
Uh-oh: Research confirms pollution can have damaging effects on your hair, too
October 03, 2019 at 10:31PM by CWC As I biked my way through New York City to the Well+Good offices this morning, I dodged exhaust from countless vehicles, unidentified smoke coming out of potholes and fumes spewing out of garbage trucks. All I could think about was my poor skin, and was thankful for the fact that it was covered with antioxidants to help with protection. But, guess what? All of the pollution in the air isn’t just a threat to your complexion—new research shows it’s bad for your hair, too. Researchers with L’Oreal, as reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that things called photo-toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the air degrade your hair with increased exposure. Researchers took microscopic images of 200 hair fibers from women in Baoding and Dialian, China, and examined the cuticle and cortex of the strands. “They found increased structural degradation of the hair fiber over time with increased PAH concentrations,” writes the study report. “Pollution has long been shown to be damaging to the skin, causing free radical damage which leads to premature aging and dark spots,” says Joshua Zeichner, MD, a New York-based dermatologist. “These molecules have been shown to cause structural damage to the hair shafts, disrupting the outer layer, which may be associated with breakage and brittleness.” Don’t worry, though—you’re not doomed to have weak hair in the face of pollution. You can protect your strands in the same way you protect your skin: with antioxidants. Dr. Zeichner
A dietitian’s definitive guide to the best Trader Joe’s salads
October 03, 2019 at 07:31PM by CWC Lunch spots that let you customize your own salad are everywhere. And some days I’m perfectly willing to drop $14 on a gourmet spinach mix with a variety of toppings straight from my imagination. Other days? Not so much. That’s why Trader Joe’s salads—most of which are just $3.99—are truly a godsend. If you usually pass the prepared aisle at TJ’s without a second glance, please believe me (and a dietitian) when I say it’s worth your while to stop and peruse the plentiful salad options. Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, dietitian and author of The Better Period Food Solution says that each of the frugal supermarket’s salads packs its own nutritional merits. Of the many Trader Joe’s salads, I asked her to choose the option that is best for fiber, which one you should fork to refuel after a workout, and more. A dietitian’s definitive guide to Trader Joe’s salads Highest in fiber Kale and Edamame Salad “The Kale and Edamame Salad has the most fiber at 10 grams, or 40 percent of the daily serving. Insoluble dietary fibers found in edamame and kale have multiple health benefits such as increased satiety and decreased blood cholesterol,” says Beckerman. For a kick of energy Super Green Salad Palette “The Super Green Salad Palette contains tons of high quality, complex carbohydrates such as edamame, kale, and avocado. This combination of foods will keep you energized thanks to the slow-digesting carbs, while delivering the body a
Pluto retrograde just ended—here’s how you can finally step out of its shadow
October 03, 2019 at 07:00PM by CWC Pluto Retrograde just ended after a five month reign of terror that began April 24, inducing an era of change, transformation, pain, and all that cute stuff. You’ve likely experienced a series of tiny endings to your world as you know it during this time (and challenge-creating Saturn’s interference did not help). And now that it’s over and Pluto is direct, can we finally crawl out of Pluto’s darkness? Well, kind of, the retroshade sort of lingers. As we emerge as an evolved and (hopefully) stronger person, we can take control of whatever challenges come next. “The planet Pluto ‘rules’ the sign Scorpio and the Eighth House of an astrology chart, all three are associated with death and resurrection,” explains Amy Zerner of famed astrology duo Monte and Amy, authors of Astrology for Wellness. “The Eighth House represents other people’s resources and this can be money you manage, money you get from other people legally, through inheritance, or otherwise.” “Other people’s resources” could also mean sexual exchanges, but we’ll get there in a minute. For now, what does it mean now that Pluto is going stationary direct in our lives? Well, we can finally stop judging ourselves so intensely for every thought, and deed that we see to be an extension of ourselves. The time for thinking and waiting is over, the time for acting is now. Pluto rules power, power struggles, and the judgment that is rendered when a legal matter has