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A classic example: You feel achy and sweaty from the flu you “caught” after getting an influenza shot (even though the virus used in the vaccine is dead). Another: You read about tainted produce and immediately get a stomachache. This so-called “nocebo effect” also trades on the power of suggestion, duping you into thinking you’re ill when you’re perfectly fine. Here’s how the nocebo effect typically exerts its influence—and how you can outsmart it....

Really, at least the yolks* anyway. Burying the golden orbs in a mixture of salt and sugar for a handful of days dries them out and concentrates their flavor, just like bacon or lox. The result is something semi-firm, salty, and savory. Think: eggy aged cheese, with an eye-poppingly pretty orange color. Cured egg yolks are delicious—but strong. Because they’re super salty, they’re better used as condiment than as the main event....

Enter pea protein, made from yellow split peas, which is showing up in everything from the usual suspects where we once found soy isolate—energy drinks, bars, and meal-replacement shakes—to the unexpected, including cereals, salad dressings, veggie burgers, pasta, and even popcorn. Why is pea protein suddenly the next “it” ingredient? For starters, pea protein solves a problem in today’s natural foods industry, where many people either can’t or don’t want to eat meat, dairy, or gluten—all missing from the vegan protein....

The World’s Craziest Deep-Fried Foods

As with most homemade treats, they tend to fall apart easily. That’s because there’s not some no-name chemical holding them together. However, I do have a couple of tricks to make them less crumbly. First, store them in the freezer. They hold together better and last longer that way. Second, use plenty of elbow grease when you press them into the pan. And lastly, if you want to add some extra sticking security, then feel free to add 1/3 cup of honey or brown rice syrup....

THE FOLLOWING CONTEST IS INTENDED FOR PLAY IN THE 49 UNITED STATES AND DC (EXCLUDING RESIDENTS OF AZ AND PR, AND ALL OTHER COUNTRIES, INCLUDING CANADA) ONLY AND SHALL ONLY BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO UNITED STATES LAW. DO NOT ENTER THIS CONTEST UNLESS YOU ARE ELIGIBLE AND A LEGAL RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE TIME OF ENTRY. NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN....

“Walkers become too efficient from covering the same ground, at the same speed, day after day,” says Michelle Adams, spa and wellness director at the Woodstock Inn & Resort in Vermont. The result: the dreaded plateau. The fix: “Trick your body past its plateau by walking at a harder intensity for short bursts,” says Adams, who designed this 1-month plan of attack. It wakes up your walks with interval training, hill climbing, and strengthening moves designed to crank up your calorie burn and—finally—help you shed stubborn pounds....

If you’ve never really lifted weights, picking up heavy pounds can be intimidating and scary. But you’ll want to do it anyway, since lifting more than 10-pound dumbbells (for most women) builds metabolism-revving muscle, strong bones, and a toned body. Should you not have a personal trainer who can show you around the weight room (though it’s not a bad idea), we tapped the affable and credentialed Rob Sulaver, owner of Bandana Training in New York, for a heavy-lifting tutorial....

You know that lasting weight loss takes time—you’re on a long journey and the path can be frustrating at times. “It can be challenging when the image in the mirror or the number on the scale doesn’t reflect how you feel and how much blood, sweat, and tears you’re putting in to reach your goal,” says Czartosieski. Keep in mind that many changes will occur on the inside before you or other people notice, says Czartosieski, “and that’s OK....

As it turns out, I didn’t have a tapeworm from my trip to Indonesia. And certainly the weight loss wasn’t from any sort of diet. The simple reality was that I ate—and lived—better while traveling than I ever did at home. Now that I’ve identified the important differences, I’ve learned how to keep my new body happy, even while stuck at home. (Cook quick meals at home that taste great fight fat!...

MORE: 6 Things Your Acne Is Trying To Tell You What Causes Acne? Acne is really a catchall term for a variety of symptoms, including pimples, whiteheads, blackheads, and skin cysts. It’s a condition that causes the pores of the skin to become clogged, causing inflamed and noninflamed lesions. Contrary to popular belief, neither dirty hair nor chocolate contributes to acne. However, some evidence links the standard American diet of greasy hamburgers and fries to chronic breakouts....

HSV-1 is usually transmitted through direct skin-on-skin contact when a lesion is present, explains Graham King, MD, a family medicine physician with the Mayo Clinic Health System. Although there are two types of herpes viruses, it’s usually HSV-1 that leads to cold sores. “HSV-1 is more frequently associated with oral breakouts, and herpes simplex 2 with genital infections, although either type can affect either area,” says Robert Anolik, MD, board-certified dermatologist at the Laser and Skin Surgery Center of New York....

I’d received them in an unmarked cardboard box from World Entomophagy, the only U.S. company selling food-grade insects to the public. I’d placed my order after reading an article online about a taste test engineered by an entomologist: He gave subjects meatballs made of half meat and half mealworm as well as a control meatball of 100% conventional meat. Surprisingly, most people preferred the buggy balls. That’s good news for the environment, since insects are some of the most sustainable protein around....

The researchers estimate that having an annual mammogram reduces breast cancer deaths by about 19%. But that percentage changes depending on your age: For women in their 40s, mammography reduces breast cancer deaths by 15%; for women in their 60s, regular screenings slash the risk by 32%. “Unfortunately, mammography is not a perfect screening test,” says Nancy Keating, MD, co-author of the study and associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital....

If you experience hair or memory loss, too, however, you may have hypothyroidism; numbness or tingling could signal a vitamin B12 deficiency. A simple blood test can detect either, and both are treatable. But, if frostiness is paired with pain, burning, or drastic whitening of fingers or toes, it could be an indication of peripheral vascular disease (spasm of the arteries), which is more serious; you should see your doctor ASAP....

“Often it’s just the fluid that coats your joints being pushed through certain ranges of motion—and is totally benign,” explains Benjamin Butts, P.T., D.P.T., O.C.S., the regional director of Interstate Rehab in Buena Park, Calif. But other times that cracking and popping, coupled with consistent pain, can be a red flag that something is wrong. Whether your noisy knee is just an annoyance or a sign of an underlying health issue, you don’t want to ignore it....