March 10, 2020 at 11:00AM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25mzNCe1H5k] Ever wondered WTF the acronym “FODMAP” means? Get the DL in this video. It’s pretty common knowledge that certain fiber-rich foods can occasionally cause bloating and gas, even though they’re healthy (*cough* cruciferous veggies *cough*). But for people with IBS or sensitive stomachs, there’s actually a whole category of foods, called FODMAPS, that can regularly wreak havoc on the digestion. But what are FODMAPS foods? On the latest episode of Well+Good’s series You Versus Food, Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, gives us the deets on these bloat-inducing, gas-causing, poop-interfering items. First off, the acronym FODMAPS stands for: fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. “To translate, it’s a general term used to describe a group of carbohydrates and sugar alcohols that can trigger digestive issues like gas, diarrhea, constipation, bloating and stomach pain,” says Beckerman. Foods considered high-FODMAP are rich in one or a few of these types of carbohydrates. Here’s the tricky part: There are lots of healthy foods that are technically high-FODMAP foods. A few examples, per Beckerman, include garlic, blackberries, and yes, even avocados. (The betrayal!) To be clear, not everyone’s stomach will be upset by FODMAP foods. But Beckerman says that people with IBS or sensitive stomachs might have issues digesting these types of carbohydrates…leading to the above-mentioned fun symptoms. Which is why you shouldn’t just nix these healthy foods from your diet if you’re not having issues. (Why give up avocado toast if you don’t have to?) However,
Tag: Well+Good
How to open your root chakra, according to reiki masters
March 10, 2020 at 02:00AM by CWC If you know anything about chakras, you probably know that they can get blocked. To address your blockages, Jissel Ravelo, a reiki master and founder of Vibra Wellness, says you have to start at the root chakra. To open your root chakra is to lay the foundation of your energy system. “Even if like another chakra is imbalanced you gotta get to that root chakra first, and then you can build upon it,” she says. “It’s like setting up the framework for your home. Without the framework, you can’t put up walls, you can’t have the roof.” Your root chakra is one of seven chakras, or energy centers, explains Ravelo. These energy centers are apart of our full energy anatomy. First is your aura, which is the field around the body. Next are the chakras, which are the energy centers that run from the bottom of the spine, all the way up to the top of the head. The third part are your would be the meridians, which are pathways that received information from the chakra centers and distribute energy throughout the body. The root chakra is located at the perineum, and extends through your legs and feet. Ravelo explains that your root chakra is the first chakra you develop. “That foundational energy is what enables us to feel secure and grounded into our birthing experience what it means to be a human being,” she says.”Right at that moment, it’s important to have that
I’ve tried hundreds of hyaluronic acid serums, and this drugstore pick is the best
March 10, 2020 at 01:00AM by CWC Hyaluronic acid is the ultimate people pleaser of the beauty world: It’s recommended by every single dermatologist for keeping moisture within your skin, it works on all skin types, and it plays well with the rest of your routine. Because of its hydrating powers—and because I’m a beauty editor—you can bet that I’ve tried practically every one out there. My favorite? It’s a drugstore find: La Roche-Posay hyaluronic acid serum ($30). When we talk about ghosts of HA past, my complexion has absorbed a very wide range, from over $300 options to those that cost less than $10 (and hundreds in between). This one won me over because it is incredibly effective in moisturizing my skin and you don’t really have to shell out a lot of money to reap its benefits. Photo: La Roche-Posay Shop now: La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Hyaluronic Acid Serum, $30 The most important thing an effective hyaluronic acid serum needs is different molecular weights so that it can hydrate both the top and innermost layers of your skin. This one has that, plus added benefits of B5, which is a water-soluble vitamin that delivers moisture and helps to plump and protect your skin barrier. Studies have also shown that the vitamin helps to reduce redness and hyperpigmentation, which explains why my skin looks so radiant and even when using the serum. Dermatologists are fans of the drugstore serum, too. “It satisfies all the criteria: it’s hypoallergenic and great for
This 64-year-old is the oldest woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean—it took her 84 days
March 10, 2020 at 12:30AM by CWC Just in time for International Woman’s Day, 64-year-old British rower Sara Brewer stepped onto dry land for the first time in 84 days. She, along with her rowing partner Ann Prestige, 35, completed a trans-Atlantic trip in a 30-foot row boat on Saturday. Brewer is now the oldest woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean. And according to the Guardian, she just picked up rowing just six years ago. “I would like to say that I finally decided to row the Atlantic Ocean after carefully considering at least some of the facts, including some of the obvious dangers and difficulties associated with such an endeavor, but that would not be strictly true,” Brewer writes on her team’s website. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Talisker (@talisker) on Mar 9, 2020 at 9:59am PDT //www.instagram.com/embed.js Brewer and Prestige completed the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, a 3,000-mile journey from the Canary Islands to Antigua, on March 7, 2020. The team of two was one of 35 teams (ranging between one and five rowers) to compete this year. The challenge requires each teammate to row for two hours, then sleep for two hours non-stop for 24 hours. Brewer and Prestige met in 2013, one year after Prestige began rowing, at the Poplar, Blackwall and District Rowing Club in London. Their team name, Row Off The Wall, was inspired by the rowing club. Prior to this race, the duo rowed a marathon,
This is officially the best way to eat zoodles—and no, they won’t get soggy
March 10, 2020 at 12:00AM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJIyAiLh4IU] Like most health-minded people circa 2016, I used to be obsessed with zoodles. They were the thing that convinced me that I like zucchini. Much to my then-boyfriend’s chagrin, we began eating a lot (and I mean a lot) of zoodles. I put them everywhere—in salads, under pasta sauce, as pad thai noodles. I basically worshipped at their altar, and for a while I was able to ignore the fact that no matter what I did, they would always get soggy. (It is so like me to ignore red flags.) But at a certain point, there’s only so much runny, watery pasta sauce that one can reasonably tolerate. Four years after my initial fling with zucchini noodles, I’ve been replacing them for spaghetti squash or chickpea pasta because I was just so sick of soggy dinners. But on the third episode of Cook With Us, Well+Good’s new cooking show, holistic nutritionist Kelly LeVeque convinced me to break out my spiralizer once again by putting zoodles in soup. On the episode, LeVeque made a vegan Italian “meatball” soup with zoodles in place of noodles. While making a soup from scratch seems daunting and difficult, LeVeque’s take was relatively simple. She made her plant-based meatballs first, then whipped up a simple broth using vegetable stock, diced canned tomatoes, and sautéed onions, celery, and herbs. As the broth came to a boil, she added in her zoodles and cooked them until they were al
5 fitness rules to follow if you’re working out in your 60s, 70s, and beyond
March 09, 2020 at 11:00PM by CWC Take it from the people who continually live to be 100: Working out—even in small increments—is one of the keys to living a healthy life. As longevity becomes more and more talked about, we’re all looking for ways to live longer and better. “Your workouts should depend on your individual fitness goals and levels, and really not your age,” says Martin Ridley, physical therapist at True Whole Care. This is especially the case if you’ve been diligent about your fitness routine throughout your life, he says, since you won’t be starting from scratch. “Maintain 30 to 40 minutes of movement, whether it’s biking, walking, swimming, strength training, or stretching,” says Ridley. That said, certain activities can get harder with age. “You can’t do everything at the same capacity that you used to, and the longer you don’t use muscles, the more they shut down,” says Will Torres, trainer and founder of New York City-based movement studio Willspace. And so, there are certain elements that trainers say are especially beneficial when you’re in your 60s and beyond for ultimate mobility and strength. Keep scrolling for expert-approved tips for a healthy fitness program. 5 rules to follow for a healthy senior exercise routine 1. Prioritize spinal health: The spine endures a lot over the course of our lives, so keep it top of mind when working out. The best way to do this, according to Torres? Hang. “Hanging is very important to develop grip strength, to
Exactly how many consecutive days you’ll feel sleepy thanks to Daylight Saving Time, according to a sleep doctor
March 09, 2020 at 10:00PM by CWC Waking up in a panic has kind of become a mainstay for me, but waking up late in a panic? That could only mean the arrival of Daylight Savings Time. Your most chipper friends will talk about how lovely it is to spring forward. For the rest of us with already-wonky sleep schedules, losing a whole hour makes for some serious Daylight Savings Time sleep problems. Why does this happen, and dear God, when will it end? “Any time you change the body’s circadian clock even by something seemingly as small as an hour, it really throws off all the hormones and cellular clocks in your body,” says sleep expert Shelby Harris, PsyD, author of The Women’s Guide to Overcoming Insomnia. “Our biological clocks are so well set that even an hour’s difference in light exposure can create changes in the body, making for greater sleepiness in the morning and insomnia at bedtime at the Daylight Savings change. We see major spikes in car accidents and hear attacks in the first few days after the time change, and it can often take upwards of five to seven days to adjust fully to the new time, light, and clocks.” Okay, by next Monday I’ll be able to get out of bed without Daylight Savings Time sleep problems. Chill. But is there any way to expedite this process? “In the coming few weeks, get as much daylight as you can—especially given that so many of us are stuck indoors nowadays due to
Got tight hips? Here’s why trainers want you to be doing CAR stretches every day
March 09, 2020 at 09:00PM by CWC If you sit at a desk all day, you’re inevitably going to feel it in your hips. While your usual stretch and foam-rolling routines can go a long way in eliminating some of that uncomfortable tightness, they’ve got their limitations. And that’s where CAR stretches come in to save the day. CAR stands for “controlled articular rotation,” and these types of stretches are a recovery technique that require you to move a joint through its full range of motion to help loosen it up. While they can be applied to a number of different body parts, they’re particularly useful when it comes to your hips, since hip flexion range of motion can suffer terribly from tightness. “Due to our sedentary lifestyles with hours spent in a seated position, our hip flexors can get adaptively tight from the lack of use, and hip CARs can help to open up these stuck ranges of movement when used consistently,” says Gold’s Gym Senior Director of Fitness, Andy Coggan. Stretching alone isn’t enough to open up your joint, which is why regularly adding slow, controlled rotations to your routine can help. “With CARs, you take the joints through your largest range of motion with control and tension, working to increase your range of motion and resiliency,” says Melissa Boyd, Head Trainer at Tempo. These stretches are different from your usual static stretches, in which you lengthen a muscle and hold it for a certain amount of time
Derms tell us if ‘For All Skin Types’ products are too good to be true
March 09, 2020 at 08:00PM by CWC Skin-care routines have reached peak customization. With companies like The Ordinary and The Inkey List releasing pure active ingredient serums, it’s now easier than ever to play beauty chemist and curate your own regimen. But there are still tons of all-skin-type products. Are they legit? Marisa Garshick, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Manhattan, says yes. “Products that are designated for all skin types are typically made up of ingredients that are gentle enough for sensitive skin but yet effective to be used by majority of people who use it,” says. Dr. Garshick. “Although it is always good to consider your individual skin type, there are various products that can be tolerated by all skin types.” If you have any particular skin issues, Rebecca Baxt, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New Jersey, says your better off using products that are a bit more targeted. For example, “if you are acne- or rosacea-prone, an all-skin-type products might make it worse. It’s best to stick to oil-free, noncomedogenic, fragrance-free products for those skin types generally speaking. It can be different for each individual patient,” she says. Dr. Garshick says some products are better than others to buy in an all-skin-types formula. “Often gentle cleansers are a great option for all skin types,” she says. She likes the Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser ($10) and Dove White Beauty Bar ($4). “Even those with oily skin can benefit from a gentle cleanser as part of their regimen, as you never want to dry out the skin too much.”
OK, TMI: Why do I cry when I poop, even if nothing hurts?
March 09, 2020 at 07:00PM by CWC Let’s get right down to it: Have you ever gone to the bathroom and found yourself squeezing out more than poop? Like, all of a sudden you’re crying a little bit, but nothing hurts and so you have no idea why there are actual tears streaming out of your eyeballs? I hadn’t heard of this before, but this phenomenon is actually not that rare—there are entire Reddit threads devoted to the topic. (Yes, I read a lot of them for research for this piece.) Armed with some preliminary knowledge of poop crying, I set out to find an expert who could answer my most pressing questions. One of the joys of my job is sending out multiple professional emails with the subject line “Why do people cry when they poop?” (Cue JD and Turk.) “For many people, the tears are not from pain but the increase in intra-abdominal pressure to help your rectum squeeze out stool,” says gastroenterologist Niket Sonpal, MD. Intra-abdominal pressure, also known as IAP, refers to the natural state of pressure within the abdomen; it fluctuates throughout the day depending on your breathing pattern and other factors. When you’re squeezing out a poop, the pressure builds in your abdomen to help move things through your system. “That combined increase in pressure in the abdomen also happens in your skull, and a few tears [can] squeeze out,” says Dr. Sonpal. Talk about that mind-gut connection. Naturally, I was flush (ha) with