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First, here’s why, despite the frequent bathroom trips and the hassle of schlepping around a reusable water bottle, hydrating is worth it: Drinking water may promote weight loss by speeding up metabolism, according to a study published in the journal Obesity. And skimping on fluids can take a toll on your mood, too. That may sound like no big deal, but recent studies have linked mild dehydration to fatigue, anxiety, poor concentration, and even your cranky midday slump....

At least that is what happens according this chef, who made a video sharing his technique—that then got picked up everywhere, because everyone wants rich, delicious cream minus the insane amount of fat and calories. So when my editor asked if I’d try making this vegan onion cream myself, I was like, HECK YES! I knew the stuff was going to be amazing, because everyone on the internet said so....

Between meetings, appointments, work deadlines, errands, family obligations, and trips to the gym, our lives can be so busy that we fill our bellies with the quickest, easiest bites we can get our hands on. Whether your goal is to drop unwanted pounds or eat healthier, it’s in your best interest to pause before you take your first bite and ask yourself these four important questions. Am I hungry? Seems like a silly question, because you’re eating, so you must be hungry, right?...

RANDOM PHOBIASWhat are they? There’s misophonia, where you can’t stand the sound of people chewing. There’s trypophobia, where you’re petrified of small holes (like in a honeycomb or sponge). There’s even coulrophobia, an irrational fear of clowns. Over 8% of Americans suffer from a phobia that involves persistent fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation, according to the National Institutes of Health. About 2% of people suffer from phobias so severe they significantly impact daily life: “I treated one woman who got so upset hearing other people eat that she refused to have meals with her family or go to restaurants,” says phobia expert Martin M....

In a small case study published in General Dentistry, Mohamed Bassiouny, DMD, PhD, professor of restorative dentistry at Temple University’s School of Dentistry, examined the teeth of a meth user, crack cocaine addict, and diet soda junkie. All three were longtime abusers—the diet soda drinker imbibed two liters a day for three to five years—and none visited a dentist regularly. After a thorough examination of all three mouths, Dr. Bassiouny could hardly tell them apart....

Enter: the elimination diet. A way of eating that’s more about getting healthy and relieving ailments, by removing various problem-causing foods from your diet, than fitting into a pair of skinny jeans. It’s also a huge buzz word lately. “Elimination diet” was number 9 on Yahoo’s list of top-searched diets of 2014. The nation’s top progressive docs, Frank Lipman, MD, Mark Hyman, MD, and Alejandro Junger, MD, all prescribe some form of it....

Insufficient sleep is linked not only to obesity—which brings its own set of health issues—but also to a host of other maladies. Here’s a sampling of health problems you might bring on by skimping on sleep. Cardiovascular disease In a 2010 study published in the journal Sleep, researchers at the West Virginia University School of Medicine reviewed data from 30,397 people. They discovered that those sleeping fewer than 7 hours a night were at increased risk of heart disease....

If you’re like most women, those three digits are all but tattooed in your brain—easily conjured up the moment your jeans feel snug or you step on the scale. But how did it get there in the first place? And what does it even mean? Not much, according to experts. “I don’t know of any health benefit to losing 10 pounds if your weight is already in the healthy range,” says Prevention’s fitness expert Chris Freytag....

[sidebar]Besides, the busier you are, the more likely you are to need yoga in your life. “Many people don’t realize they hold tension in their bodies that can contribute to back, neck, and head pain,” says physical therapist Judith Hanson Lasater, PhD, author of 30 Essential Yoga Poses. “Yoga is like a speed bump that slows you down so you pay attention to your body.” And that extra attention can keep you going strong....

That’s exactly what a recent study from San Diego State University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found: That eating during a “time-restricted feeding” (TRF) of 12 hours exclusively during daytime can significantly improve sleep quality, curb weight gain, and prevent age-related heart decline. Okay, so all this research was done on flies—but still. MORE: 4 Ways Skimping On Even Just A Little Bit Of Sleep Can Make You Gain Weight “The results were so dramatic that our first instinct was that we had probably mixed up our fly groups and mistakenly looked at young flies,” says Girish Melkani, PhD, a co-author of the paper, which was published in Science....

The yoga workout exercises run in a flow sequence, and you can do the entire sequence as a 10-minute yoga routine, holding each move for up to 1 minute. You can also deepen and hold each pose longer for added benefits—a great alternative when you have more than 10 minutes for your yoga workout. (Slim your middle fast with Prevention’s Flat Belly Yoga DVD.) Pose of the DancerBenefits: Firms and flattens your lower belly, tones your inner thighs, improves your balance, strengthens and tones your legs, improves core strength The ball will help you to gain your balance in this challenging posture....

Researchers examined the diets of people with and without asthma, assessing the diets based on their potential to cause inflammation in the body. The results: People with less healthy, more inflammatory diets were more likely to have asthma than people with healthier, less inflammatory diets. And among people who already had asthma, those with the worst diets had the worst symptoms. So how exactly does sugary, greasy fare—the stuff known to cause inflammation in the body—mess with your ability to breathe?...

The research: Researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School analyzed blood pressure readings—taken by both a doctor and a nurse of the same patient on the same day—from more than 1,000 individuals across the world. The readings made by doctors were significantly higher (a whole 7/4 mmHg higher) than those made by nurses. “This is a subconscious or reflex effect—sometimes dubbed the ‘alerting response’—caused by the taking of blood pressure,” says study author Christopher Clark....

Seriously? I swear I just went to bed. Five more minutes. Okay, 10. I’ll get dressed fast… Hits snooze. Cue snoring. Jump 10 minutes into the future. Shut UP, Chimes! I have GOT to change my alarm sound. Hits snooze for a second time. Turns over. Maybe I can skip today. I went yesterday. You’ll regret it. Just get up. But I went yesterday… Yeah, you should sleep. Sleep makes you skinny....

Photo by Chris Gramly/Getty Images Holidays got you stressed? Bury your inner Scrooge with these delightful to-dos of fun, food, friendship, and more. Trying even a few of them throughout the holiday season will ensure your December is filled with happiness, health, joy, and inspiration. Consider them a gift from us to you. Seek icy thrills Photo by Hero Images/Getty Images Winter activities such as skiing, ice-skating, sledding, and tubing aren’t just great calorie burners, they’re exhilarating....

But coconut oil’s explosion in popularity has come with one major downside: Now grocery store shelves are packed with countless varieties of the stuff, all bearing a confusing carousel of label claims. So which type should you buy for max nutrition and taste? We’ve got you covered. Here, four things you need to know before picking up your next jar: Stick with a solid. Most grocery stores carry coconut oil in both solid and liquid states—and even though they’re both labeled as coconut oil, they’re not exactly the same thing....

Casu Marzu This may be the one cheese that turns you off from dairy for good. Casu Marzu, also known as “maggot cheese,” is exactly what its nickname implies—cheese left outside on which flies lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch into maggots, they eat away at the cheese, infusing it with pre-digested fats, proteins, and sugars (Mmm!). While Casu Marzu is considered a delicacy in Sardinia, the island from which it hails, it doesn’t exactly pass the FDA’s regulations for food contaminants, so you won’t find it here....

There have been a few setbacks recently for introverts—you know, those people who are energized by solitude rather than social interaction and are always getting criticized by extroverted, more gregarious types. New research found that their immune systems are less capable of handling a wide variety of pathogens than those of extroverts—likely because they don’t naturally flock to social activities, with their potpourri of immune-boosting germs. A second new study shows that introverts have higher rates of sexual dysfunction, in part because they’re less open to new experiences....

Workout At A Glance What You Need: Set of 5-to 8-pound dumbbells, exercise mat, sturdy couch or chair. How To Do It: Perform the exercises in the order shown 3 times a week on nonconsecutive days. Start with the Main Move. If that’s too difficult, do the Make It Easier variation. For a greater challenge, try the Make It Harder version. After each move, do 3 to 5 push-ups. For Faster Results: Use a heavier set of dumbbells (such as 10 to 12 pounds) so you can do only 5 or 6 reps of each exercise without resting, and do the whole routine twice through....