September 06, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC When it comes to airplane food, the general consensus is that it’s…well, not great, Bob! The work-around has long been to bring your own food on board (whether it’s airport fare or stuff you brought from home), but even if it makes it through TSA security, it probably won’t taste nearly as good as it normally does on land. Sure, the fact that you’re forced to eat it in a cramped corner while trying not to offend the stranger sharing your armrest certainly doesn’t help, but TIL that elevation *literally* changes the taste of food…and usually not for the better. According to food scientist Herbert Stone, PhD, who worked on food for the Apollo Moon Mission, there are very specific ways elevation affects how something tastes. “Elevation makes the air colder—and airplanes are already kept quite cold—and when the oral cavity is cooled, we don’t taste things as well,” he explains. He says that when food—or its surrounding temps—make your mouth either too hot or too cold, your receptors start working on overdrive to get it the temperature back to where it should be. That slows down the process of sensing—and therefore enjoying—what you’re eating. “Elevation dulls your taste buds about 20 percent inflight,” says Sheri Whiteley, the director of on-board menu planning for American Airlines. She says sweetness and saltiness are the flavor notes most impacted. “The air on board is also extremely dry, which affects sense of smell and taste,” adds
Tag: Well+Good
Your windowless room isn’t doomed to feel like a dungeon—brighten things up with these 5 tips from an interior designer
September 06, 2019 at 01:00AM by CWC Being in a room that’s giving off total dungeon vibes isn’t exactly welcoming to guests or great for your own mental health (there’s a reason for happy lights and light therapy, folks). Whether it’s a basement room, an apartment facing another building, or a windowless space with no natural light to speak of, a dark space in your home can present a design conundrum. Because without sunshine pouring in, the vibe can feel depressing and doesn’t do your mental health any favors. But, light or dark, an empty room is a blank canvas of sorts, nonetheless. Interior designer Mikel Welch has seen his fair share of dim rooms during his time on the Trading Spaces team, TLC’s cult-favorite room-makeover show. But you don’t need a whole production crew to make your own transformation happen. Here, Welch provides key tips for transforming a dreary space to look bright and airy. An interior designer’s top 5 tips brighten a dark space in your home. 1. Choose a light wall color. “If you have a dark space you want to brighten up, light colors are going to be your best friends,” Welch says. Instead of moody blues or merlots, colors like white, cream, or sunny yellow will give the illusion of more natural light. 2. Add a floor mirror. Once you have your wall color finalized, reflect it everywhere. “You have to create an optical illusion, and one of the best ways to do that is
The Climate Psychologist gives it to us straight: Being anxious about climate change is a *good* thing
September 06, 2019 at 12:05AM by CWC If you pay even an iota of attention to climate news, you know that the situation is urgent and grim. This week alone, the Amazon rainforest burns even more than before, Hurricane Dorian unleashes its destruction, and record-setting floods are hitting St. Louis and the Great Lakes states—and it’s only Thursday. The climate emergency is here, and as the journalist David Wallace-Wells famously wrote, “It is worse, much worse, than you think.” If the planet doesn’t reach zero emissions in roughly a decade, millions of people will die. Growing food will become extremely difficult. Disease will spread. Civilization itself may collapse by 2050, and widespread extinction is a possibility within our lifetimes. Yes, even for humans. This isn’t hyperbole. The reality is horrifying—so horrifying that most of us don’t want to face these darkest of possibilities. For a long time, I didn’t, either. And then last year’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report changed my view on everything. Let me tell you, when you realize what’s at stake, you become a different person. I’ve spent many sleepless nights wondering whether my young son will inherit a charred, destroyed planet and die before he reaches the age I am now. I recently hiked the hills behind my house, only to burst into tears upon seeing butterflies—because I see fewer now than I did as a child, and they are dying because the planet is dying. I mourn beloved places—the East Village, Miami, New
This easy high-fiber cheesecake doesn’t even require an oven to make
September 05, 2019 at 10:30PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nklEUEoZLpU] Didn’t think a healthy, delicious cheesecake existed? Think again. There’s a reason why The Cheesecake Factory has a 45-minute wait during prime time dinner hours at every major mall across America. Who doesn’t love cheesecake? But when I called up a dietitian a few months ago to ask if there was a somewhat healthy dessert order at the beloved chain restaurant, all I heard were crickets on the other line of the phone. Thankfully, cheesecake isn’t automatically off the (healthy) table. Leave it to Alt-Baking Bootcamp hosts chefs Mia Rigden and Jenny Dorsey to give the classic dessert a healthier twist as well as make it 100-percent vegan and high in fiber and protein. For the crust, they use raw walnuts, pitted medjool dates, sea salt, cinnamon, and cardamom, key warming spices for rounding out the flavor. Those dates aren’t just a great way to add sugar without using the refined stuff—they also offer up lots of other nutrients, says Rigden. “[Dates are] a wonderful source of fiber,” she says, key for a healthy digestive system, while also adding in some antioxidants and vitamins and minerals (like potassium). Plus, with the walnuts in the crust and the cashews in the cashew cream base of the cheesecake, you’re getting lots of protein along with omega-3 fatty acids, copper (which is good for collagen production), and yes, more antioxidants. That means every slice of this dessert is both high-protein and high-fiber—a major nutritional
Memorize this conversation formula to stop a liar mid-sentence
September 05, 2019 at 10:05PM by CWC Watching someone spin a web of lies right before my eyes makes me want to channel Kat Stratford and break out in angry poetry (“I hate it when you lie / I hate it when you make me laugh / Even worse when you make me cry”). Even though 10 Things I Hate About You ends on a cheesy high note, a psychologist tells me that confrontational verse isn’t a viable tactic for shutting down a liar out here in the real world. In fact, you shouldn’t mention the falsehood standing between you at all. “There’s going to be some temptation to insist that the person explain themselves, but that’s not always productive,” says Aimee Daramus, PsyD, a psychologist based in Chicago. “It can be emotionally satisfying when they dig themselves in deep, but it doesn’t solve the problem. It’s best to believe actions, not words.” So rather than giving someone the third degree, offer them an opportunity to prove that they’re not a dirty rotten liar with actions. “If the lie is truly important, stop analyzing it and start talking about action. At work it might be ‘When can I expect that report?’ or ‘What can you contribute to this project?’ With this, you can take some power back,” says Dr. Daramus. “When people show you who they are, believe them.” —Maya Angelou The same logic applies to interpersonal relationships, says the psychologist. If your friend promises to help you move, but you’re
The “1-minute method” will have you working out even when you’re not feeling it
September 05, 2019 at 09:34PM by CWC If my sore muscles need a recovery day from working out, I’m all for it—I’ll happily set up shop on my couch to rest (and watch Curb Your Enthusiasm until I fall asleep). But it’s those days where I really want to hypothetically work out (yet can’t seem to get moving) that are especially frustrating. Sometimes, it just feels like there’s a mysterious force of gravity at work that’s preventing me from lacing up or schlepping to the gym despite my best intentions (really though, it’s just my own willpower). But in the depths of a Livestrong Facebook thread filled with people’s own fitness motivation tips, I’ve found actual gold. Want to literally trick yourself into a workout? All you need is one minute. “Tell yourself you’re going to do just one minute of yoga, or one minute of squats, or one minute of push-ups—whatever it may be—and once you get started, you’ll likely end up doing more,” the true genius writes. They’re 100-percent right—getting started is often the most mentally challenging part of any workout. Trainers back this up. “I love this concept,” gushes fitness instructor Mark Osmundsen, creator of Movement Culture Co. “It’s simply Newton’s Law—an object that gets in motion will stay in motion. If you can just start by getting up and moving, the endorphins will take over, and before you know it—you’ve done a full workout.” Ahh, so it’s not just physical fitness, it’s physics, you guys. Even the
The strength-training move you need to balance your body after yoga
September 05, 2019 at 07:31PM by CWC As a newbie rock climber, I’m quickly learning that the physical strength required to scale a cliff is no joke. Give me a yoga mat and I’ll handstand and chaturanga to my heart (and muscle’s) content. Which is why it was an exercise in humility when I found myself trying—and failing—to pull my body toward the artificial rock wall in a New York City gym. When I rely on my yoga practice for strength, am I leaving something out? I couldn’t quite put my finger on the frustrating muscle disparity. That is, until an Instagram post from Charlee Atkins, trainer and founder of Le Sweat and Le Stretch, incited a no-duh moment for me. “[Y]oga is a heckuva lotta ‘pushing’ and I’m in need of some pull!” writes the trainer. “If you’re a yogi or a regular practitioner of yoga, I highly recommend incorporating these ‘pulling’ exercises to help balance out your body for the long run.” It’s so true—right!? There are about a million yoga poses out there, but the vast majority involve pushing your weight away from the floor. Not pulling your body toward something. If you, too, have been feeling the repercussions of that imbalance, don’t sweat it (or rather, sweat your way through it). Atkins shared her workout for doing just that: The 4 best pull workouts every yogi needs to do at the gym View this post on Instagram UPPER BODY FOR YOGIS ⠀ We just closed Day 4 of yoga training
The face washes that get you a thousand skin compliments share one ingredient
September 05, 2019 at 06:33PM by CWC Micellar water is one of my most dependable skin-care products. It always does the job of gently removing my makeup without any drama, like irritating my skin, not to mention it makes me feel very Parisian (since it’s a French-girl beauty staple). While perusing the skin-care aisles one day though, I stumbled across a micellar-spiked gel cleanser—that had the stuff nestled into its sudsing formula. Apparently, dermatologists love these types of cleansers because they work double-duty. For a refresher: “Micellar water is essentially purified water that contains hydrating ingredients and mild cleansers,” says Adarsh Vijay Mudgil, MD, of Mudgil Dermatology. “The soap components make microscopic spheres which attach to dirt, makeup, and debris.” So when you see micelles—the cleansing agents of micellar water—inside of a regular cleanser, the all-star ingredient in the formula will give you multi-tasking benefits. It basically double cleanses for you, attaching to makeup and debris to whisk it away, while the other cleansing agents help to cleanse skin on a deeper level. “Micellar cleansers provide a double whammy of cleansing in the least irritating way,” says Dr. Mudgil, who likes Isdin Micellar Facial Cleanser ($33). Dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD, adds that micellar cleansers are super gentle and can be used on all skin types. “Micellar technology is now being incorporated into traditional cleansing vehicles and even bars,” he says, noting that he really likes Dove Anti-Stress Micellar Beauty Bar ($7). Mon petit micelles, you’ve won my heart again. Keep
These boots were made for walking…like, a lot
September 05, 2019 at 05:35PM by CWC You’ll find plenty of shoes and sneakers you can wear all day without getting any number of miscellaneous body aches. But comfortable boots (that aren’t unintentionally hideous) are hard to come by. Such practical shoe unicorns do exist, however, if you’re willing to do a little legwork. Wondering how to spot a pair? There a few features to keep in mind while shopping for comfortable boots, according to Miguel Cunha, DPM, founder of Gotham Footcare. The first is shock absorption. Some products and brands will let you know whether their boot has this feature. If not, look for things like rubber soles and try bending the shoe—if it bends in the middle of the sole, this mean it doesn’t have shock absorption and is generally not great for foot support, he says. Despite what you may think, flat boots aren’t ideal for your foot health. Not in the slightest. “I recommend avoiding boots that are completely flat. They will contribute to pronation and collapse of the arch, which may contribute to planter and posterior heel pain, shin splints, knee pain, and back pain,” explains Dr. Cunha. I’m definitely not interested in dealing with this combination of problems. Something else to keep in mind, according to Marion Parke, DPM, a podiatrist-turned-shoe-designer, is that “our feet tend to swell throughout the day and you want to provide some room for that. When it comes to shoes, millimeters count.” To factor this into your footwear purchase,
Why walking after eating might be the best time to get those 10,000 steps
September 05, 2019 at 04:29PM by CWC There are essentially two states to turn to after a satisfying meal: lying horizontally on the couch, or walking it out. Walking after eating is something my parents always used to have me and my sister do, and I’m now aware—as a more wise, mature adult—that it certainly feels better than just remaining sedentary, and experts say there’s actually a lot of science behind it. Walking itself is its own solid form of exercise, sure—but doing it after eating does even more for your body, including boosting your metabolism, aiding digestion, and lowering stress levels. “There are a lot of benefits to walking after eating, or post-prandial exercise,” says Juan Delgado, a sports scientist and certified biomechanist with New York’s Sports Science Lab. “It lowers glycemic index significantly, improves your intestinal movement, promotes better sleep, and boosts your blood flow.” Besides all the many biological boosters that walking after eating is giving you, it’s also, ya know, contributing to your 10,000 steps. And you can do it with your friends or your dog or while tuning into a fun podcast—really, you can’t go wrong. If you’re the type of person who prefers to lay back and let yourself feel full, here’s the good news: You don’t have to make it an actual walking workout. “Post-meal, brisk walks ideally should be treated at a conversing, not crushing, pace,” says Adam Feit, PhD, assistant director of performance nutrition with Precise Nutrition. His advice? Aim for