Stressed? Sure, you could relax with a bath, a massage, or a yoga session. Better yet: Give your guy a massage or drop a friend off at her yoga class. People who help others are less likely to die after stressful events, according to a study recently published in American Journal of Public Health. Research has shown that serious stressors—like losing a job or a loved one—can worsen your health and shorten your life....
[sidebar] We decided to pose the question to Prevention advisor Mary Jane Minkin, MD. “This new method is the concept of extremely reliable contraception. It’s in contrast to, say, birth control pills, which require effort to remember to take on a daily basis,” says the board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist and a clinical professor at Yale University School of Medicine. “If taken regularly, they have a failure rate of 1-2%, but [research shows] the average number of forgotten pills in one month is 4 per month....
A total of 168 married couples, all newlyweds at the study’s onset, were tracked for 13 years by researchers. At regular intervals, each partner was asked to report details on their partner’s affectionate behaviors, like how often they hugged, among other things. Turns out that men and women weren’t so different after all. “The idea, and you see this in popular culture all the time, is that women tend to be more affectionate while men show love by doing things, like tasks or favors,” says lead study author Elizabeth Schoenfeld, a graduate student in the department of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin....
“It’s a matter of shifting your thinking,” says Leslie Sokol, PhD, a cognitive psychologist at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and coauthor of Think Confident, Be Confident. “That may sound difficult, but it’s actually a simple matter of repetition. If you think something again and again—like, ‘I’m my first priority’—and shift your behavior to reinforce that thought, it becomes ingrained, replacing unwanted habits in the process.” We asked three women to try this behavior shift by identifying a problematic trait, then following our expert-devised plans for change....
Hey, look it over! Pick up the watermelon and check its firmness. Make sure it is symmetrical and free of bruises, cuts, and dents. Check its heft. Watermelons are 92% water and so should feel heavy for their size. Over she goes. Check the underside of the watermelon for a creamy yellow spot. That’s a sign that it’s been sitting on the ground, ripening in the sun. The final step, of course, is to bring it home to enjoy....
Cover Upeyeslipsface.com Choose concealer with a drier texture (it’ll adhere better), and apply directly onto the blemish with a small brush, patting lightly around the edges with your finger to blend, says Dallas makeup artist Robert Jones. The shade should match your skin tone, so don’t use undereye makeup—its lighter color will be conspicuous. For precise application, try E.L.F. Concealer Pencil & Brush ($3, ), which contains salicylic acid and tea tree oil to speed healing....
[sidebar] You Want More CurlGently warm an eyelash curler using a hair dryer for 5 seconds, and then hold it at the base of lashes for 3 seconds, says Los Angeles makeup artist Amy Chance. The heated curler works like a mini hair iron, and the curled lashes make eyes look more open. Use: With its curved wand, Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara ($16; clinique.com) sweeps lashes up. Starting close to the root, wiggle the wand back and forth as you coat from base to tip....
The cause of this chronic inflammatory skin disorder remains a mystery. “There’s just no clear answer,” says Ranella Hirsch, MD, vice president of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery. Some blame bacteria; others point to free radicals and ultraviolet rays. But the most popular theory is that overactive blood vessels in the face cause you to turn, and stay, red. To add to the confusion, many other skin problems, such as sun damage and acne, mimic rosacea, so you could be treating one condition when you really have another....
So you picked up a can of coconut milk to make a curry sauce or you bought anchovy paste to whip up homemade Caesar dressing and have a bunch left over. Now what? Once you’re done with the recipe, it’s not always clear what to do with those leftover ingredients. Rather than letting them languish in your fridge and eventually go bad, we tapped two experts—Elana Horwich, chef and founder of Meal and a Spiel cooking school in Los Angeles, and Keri Glassman, nutritionist and founder of Nutritious Life in New York City—for their tips on using up 10 common leftover ingredients....
But this begs an important question: Does harvesting these ingredients damage the Dead Sea? In a word, no. “Beauty companies mostly use the mud—they don’t necessarily take much water, so they aren’t driving the depleting water levels,” says geologist Nicolas Waldmann, PhD, of Haifa University in Israel, who has been studying the sediments of the Dead Sea for more than 15 years. MORE: This Flower Extract Could Be Exactly What Your Inflamed Skin’s Been Hoping For As for the real cause of The Dead Sea’s annual 3-foot drop, blame the area’s increasing industrialization....
You can’t walk down the grocery aisle without seeing boxes and bags of your favorite foods slapped with “low-sodium” labels, or scan health news sites without seeing a new study condemning salt. Sodium has become a health villain, accused of causing everything from high blood pressure to obesity. That’s why a new sodium study is making headlines. Last week, a study in the American Journal of Hypertension asserted that a low-sodium diet may not be as heart-healthy as we thought....
Have YOU been Sugarjacked? The #1 reason your belly fat won’t go away! Early research said that sucralose passes through your GI tract undigested, so the theory was that it had little to no effect on you. But new studies show that sucralose is actually metabolized, says study coauthor Susan S. Schiffman, PhD, an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University. Enter a slew of problems, including: Reduces good gut bacteria: Sucralose alters the amount and quality of those beneficial microbes that hang out in your belly (the same ones found in yogurt) by 50% or more....
MORE: Read This Before You Give Up Dairy The compound in question is carrageenan, a seaweed-derived ingredient used to create a better texture, or “mouthfeel,” in low-fat dairy products and dairy alternatives like soymilk. Often found in things like chocolate milk, sour cream, creamers, yogurt, ice cream, and juices, carrageenan helps keep different ingredients in suspension so they don’t separate, eliminating the need to shake the product before you consume it....
Is your dinner plate contributing to climate change? Globally, the food industry is responsible for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, many of which emerge from the factory farms responsible for rearing animals. Not to mention that animal agriculture gobbles up land and water, or that a meat-heavy diet appears to increase our risk for heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. So we should all go veg, right? Not so fast, says a new report from the World Wildlife Fund UK and the Food Ethics Council....
New science from the Postural Restoration Institute shows that how you breathe during core exercises makes or breaks their worth. A simple trick of the breath can make each second and rep pack a bigger punch, strengthening the underused muscles deep in your core. Doug Kechijian, a doctor of physical therapy at Peak Performance in New York City shares three secrets that make each second you spend working your core infinitely more effective....
Pretty unbelievable, right? There are two reasons researchers speculate it works: Umami and moisture. Mushrooms contain flavor-enhancing umami compounds like glutamate, which elicit savory, brothy, rich, or meaty taste sensations—tastes that naturally complement beef. They’re also super moist, and moisture has been found to enhance “salt perception,” or how salty you think something is. Aside from taste, mushrooms also increase the nutritional profile of your meat-based dishes by adding a healthy dose of B vitamins and potassium....
The payoff: 138 calories in 15 minutesWhat you’ll need: A watch with a timer or second hand To get started: Jog or march in place, circling arms overhead and down, for 30 seconds to warm up. Do the exercises below in order, followed by 1 minute of jogging or marching in place—that’s 1 circuit. Do 3 circuits total. Plié Pop-Up (works inner thighs, quads) With feet wider than shoulder-width apart and toes pointing out, bend knees and lower yourself so thighs are about parallel to floor....
Ashley’s answer: Chia, hemp, fruit, beans…there are so many great sources of fiber that can get you what you need without you ever having to go near gluten. There are even gluten-free oats that are a good source of fiber (check out Prevention’s favorite kind in the Cleanest Packaged Food Awards.) Nuts, especially almonds, also provide fiber. You have gluten-free, soy-free options, so mix, match, and enjoy! Chewing over a food quandary?...
