Blue light’s rap sheet is growing ever longer. Researchers have connected the high-energy visible light, which emanates from both the sun and your cell phone (and just about every other digital device in our hands and on our bedside tables), to disruptions in the body’s circadian rhythms. And physicians have drawn attention to the relationship between our favorite devices and eye problems.
There are few discomforts quite as annoying as the “water balloon inside your belly” feeling known as bloating. But luckily there are some tricks you can try to help limit the swelling. We enlisted a few experts—a heralded doctor who specializes in digestion and inflammation, a clean-eating expert, and a hormone specialist—to share their tips for beating bloat, both in the moment and before it happens.
As a fitness columnist, I get lots of questions about the best way to work out. Many of these queries are about strength training: How many workouts per week are necessary? Do I need to lift weights, or are body weight exercises like pushups and lunges enough? Is it better to do a few repetitions of heavy weights or more reps with lighter ones? How many sets are optimal?
There are few things as frustrating as being unable to fall asleep, especially if you have a big day ahead and need your rest. In a recent YouTube video, Doctor Jo, a licensed physical therapist and doctor of physical therapy, demonstrated a simple breathing exercise that she recommends to clients, claiming it can help you drift off nice and quickly, rather than spending hours in bed, staring at the ceiling or counting sheep.
Food marketers know that if they call their product a superfood, it’s sure to sell. Take quinoa, for example. In the early aughts, when the ancient grain first became trendy, quinoa prices tripled in the span of five years. (Many Bolivians, who had relied on it as a food staple for centuries, were soon priced out of the market.) The moral here: it’s important to question anything knighted with the superlative.
Getting a good night’s sleep can delay the onset of dementia later in life, scientists have discovered.
How people slumber can be used as a “crystal ball” to predict if they will be hit by Alzheimer’s disease in the future, according to the researchers.
Plenty of deep sleep was found to best delay the onset of dementia because it slows the build up of a toxic plaque in the brain called beta-amyloid.
Aimee Hartley, like most people, thought she knew how to breathe – she had, after all, been doing it all her life. She had also given it plenty of thought, having trained as a yoga teacher. But then she took a lesson with a breathing coach, who told her where she was going wrong. He pointed out she wasn’t taking the air into her lower lungs but was, she says, an “upper chest breather. He then taught me this conscious breathing and I felt my lower belly open, and I felt myself breathing a lot better after just one session. So I then became fascinated by how we breathe.”
You come in from a summer hike covered with itchy red mosquito bites, only to have your friends innocently proclaim that they don’t have any. Or you wake up from a night of camping to find your ankles and wrists aflame with bites, while your tentmates are unscathed.
Today most people do not get enough sleep. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called insufficient sleep an epidemic. While we are finally paying attention to the importance of sleep, the need for dark is still mostly ignored.
We all have some bad habits, but some of these bad habits can harm your brain. Skimping on sleep is one of those bad habits. Those who do not get enough Zzzs are more likely to get dementia and Alzheimer’s compared to those who get adequate sleep. Lack of sleep in older adults increases the risk of excessive daytime sleepiness, depression, and problems with attention and memory. They are also more likely to fall at night and rely on more sleep aids (both over-the-counter and prescription kinds). People who have trouble falling asleep at night should avoid caffeine, alcohol, and watching TV or using the computer in the evening. If you have trouble sleeping, practice a soothing bedtime routine in the evening to help you wind down and get to sleep.