Month: March 2017

10 Items That Should Never, Ever Be Shared

Post author By Lisa Douglas
Post date March 31, 2017

You know that couple (or those besties)…the ones who share everything. And we mean everything. Not normal things like clothing, blankets, or coffee cups. But things you think shouldn’t be shared. Disgusting, potentially germ-growing, virus-breeding, fungus-festering things.

Some people believe that routinely exposing yourself to bacteria and germs makes your immune system stronger. Others are so grossed out by germs that it causes them to be obsessively, maniacally clean.
Most of us fall in the middle somewhere. We basically like things clean and keep stuff to ourselves, but sometimes we venture into “we know we shouldn’t borrow this, but how bad can it be?” zones. Did you ever find yourself wondering just how many germs you share with your boyfriend when you slurp out of his soda can? Or how gross it really is when you swipe your pits with your sister’s deodorant—even just once? Unfortunately, it’s worse than we thought. Grab your garbage can and bravely read below.

1. Earbuds

Your friend wants you to listen to her new song, so she pulls out her earbuds and jams them in your ears so you can listen. You would think that sharing them would be benign, but it’s not. The ears normally contain bacteria like pseudomonas, staphylococcus, and strep, which you’re used to and typically don’t cause any health problems.

It’s when you start swapping bacteria with other people that you get in trouble. Add in the moist environment of sweating and working out, and you have the perfect breeding ground for an overload of bacteria that can cause infections, pimples, boils, ear fungus, or swimmer’s ear.
Over-the-ear listening devices prove to be even more troublesome because they transmit not only germs and wax, but they can also transmit lice. The best thing to do is to tell your bestie to buy her own earbuds. If you must share, wipe the earbuds down with alcohol.

2. Towels

You jump out of the shower, see a towel, grab it, and use it. What you don’t realize is that towel may be covered in bacteria, fungi, and mildew. Towels are the perfect breeding ground for germs because they hang in dark, wet places and never really get a chance to dry out.

Small amounts of bacteria are always present on a used towel, but if you notice a funky smell, you can be sure there are colonies of things you don’t want on there—things that can cause acne, pink eye, cold sores, bacterial infections, or even chlamydia.
The best practice is to not share towels at all and to wash them after one use. If you have to reuse them, make sure that they hang in a well-ventilated, bright place and that they dry out completely. Having trouble figuring out whose towel is whose? Try color coding them so everyone has their own, or use a waterproof marker to label them.

3. Bar of Soap

Soap cleans your body, so it must clean itself after each use, right? Unfortunately it doesn’t. Each time someone uses a bar of soap, the “slime” on it gets covered in organisms from that person’s skin—everything from harmless germs to serious pathogens like norovirus (which causes the stomach “flu”) and staph (MRSA).

You might think that antibacterial soap would be better and save you from the harmful stuff, but it won’t. Antibacterial properties don’t kill germs the way alcohol does.
If you’re sharing the bar with just your family members, you really have little to worry about because you share many of the same microorganisms anyway. But if you’re out and about and there’s no liquid soap in sight, the best thing to do is rinse the bar off in running water to wash away the slime. It’s always good practice to store soap out of water and allow it to dry completely between uses.

4. Razors

You forgot your razor, so you’re just going to use your friend’s. Not so fast! It may not be worth it. When you shave, your skin’s dead cells mix with bacteria, which can cause a host of issues.

Even if you don’t cut yourself, shaving can cause tiny nicks in the skin where viruses and bacteria can enter the blood quickly. It’s probably better to have a little stubble and wait until you get home to use your own razor.

5. Water Bottles

You’re dying because you forgot your water and your friend kindly offers hers. You take a swig, praying that she doesn’t have any germs that you can catch. Bad news! She does. We all do.

Some can be as harmless as the common cold, or as menacing as strep, mono, herpes, mumps, and meningitis. You won’t always get sick if you share a beverage with someone, but in this case, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

6. Keyboards/Cellphones

Your cubicle mate eats a ham sandwich and then jumps on your computer to look something up. Your friend comes back from a quick trip to the bathroom, then grabs your phone and heads to Instagram. You’re hoping that the germs you know they deposited aren’t that bad. The truth is that keyboards and cellphones can have more bacteria than a toilet.

And the more people you share your things with, the worse it becomes. If you can’t insist that people wash their hands before they put them on your tech stuff, then make a regular practice of wiping down your screens with alcohol wipes.

7. Underwear/Swimwear

Hopefully you know better about this, but just in case, we’ll come out very strongly against this one: you should NEVER, EVER wear someone else’s underclothes next to your private parts.

Damp, dark places are the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, fungi, or viruses. Even though the clothes may be washed before you wear them, studies have shown that washing them in even in the cleanest conditions doesn’t always get rid of the intruders.

8. Deodorant

We doubt anyone thinks it’s okay to share a product that’s intended to combat sweat and smell from under the armpits, but are you wondering (if, heaven forbid, you were in a pinch) just how bad it may be? Eh, it’s not great. The odor that comes from under your pits is from bacteria that breaks down the sweat on your skin.

If you’re sharing deodorant it’s not too bad, because it normally has some antibacterial properties—unless it’s organic. Most organic deodorants just mask the smell and don’t contain powerful enough (or any) ingredients that can fight bacteria.
If you’re using a roll-on antiperspirant, it’s even worse. Antiperspirants only decrease perspiration and don’t have any germ-killing stuff that deodorants have. You could be sharing someone else’s germs, bacteria, fungi, and yeast—or at the very least, their skin cells and hair. Switch to a spray, and you’re all good!

9. Pumice Stones

The job of pumice stones is to scrape dead skin from the heels and soles of feet. When you borrow someone else’s stone, you’re not only getting all of that gross personal debris, but you can also catch any foot fungus or plantar warts that they may have.

HPV, the virus responsible for foot warts, is highly contagious, and unfortunately the warts are really hard to get rid of.

10. Tweezers

How harmful can borrowing someone’s tweezers be? You pluck a couple of hairs and everything is fine and dandy. It’s okay if you don’t dig around, but start prodding and puncturing your skin and things can get messy.

As with sharing a razor, you can transfer blood-borne diseases. Soak tweezers in a jar of alcohol if you think they may have come in contact with blood.

Tags 50019091, care, Commerce, hemingway

Lifestyle

15 Things You Didn't Know Could Make You Sick

Post author By Megan Senseney
Post date March 31, 2017

You might consider yourself a clean freak, but germs often lurk in the most unsuspecting places. Unfortunately, you could be exposing yourself to illness with almost everything you touch, and you probably didn’t realize it.

For most of us, getting sick start with looking for someone to blame—the coworker who infected the whole office, your child who brought home a bug from daycare, your partner who refused to get a flu shot. However, besides the obvious culprits, there are a lot of other things that could be making sick, and you’ve probably never even thought of them.

Restaurant Menus

Sure, laminated restaurant menus probably get washed every now and then, but how often really? Unless they get sticky, it’s not likely that they get washed between customers, meaning that you’re picking up anything on the hands of the diner that came before you.

On average, restaurant menus carry around 185,000 bacteria, and they can actually last longer on laminated menus than they do on paper versions—we’re potentially talking things like E. coli and salmonella, along with the more common cold and flu bugs, too.

Water Dispensers

The point of a water dispenser is to filter the bad stuff out of our water—how could it be making us sick? Think for a second about the last time you actually decided to clean or sanitize that dispenser, and you have your answer.

The space can easily become home to mold and yeast, and even some nastier bacteria if it makes contact with a dirty glass. To clean it, just turn your ice maker off, wash the area with a mild soap and warm water, then rinse and dry it thoroughly.

Mascara

If you’ve ever shared your mascara with anyone, even a trusted friend, we have one question to ask you—do you want to get pink eye? Because that’s how you get pink eye.

Fungi and bacteria can lurk around the eye without causing any symptoms whatsoever, but give them a tube of mascara to live in and they’ll thrive. Do yourself and your friends a favor and keep your products to yourself, and replace your tube of mascara every three months if you haven’t used up the whole thing.

New Clothes

You’d think you’d be safe buying brand-new clothes from the store, but that’s not always the case. For one thing, clothes that have never been washed can still contain traces of materials they may have picked up while being processed, including formaldehyde.

These chemicals can cause skin irritations, or lead to an extreme allergic reaction in others. Not only that, but things like lice and scabies can remain on clothing after someone has tried them on, and you could be picking them up if you don’t kill them off with a wash.

Your Yoga Mat

Even if you bring your own mat to your favorite yoga class, you could still be putting your skin at risk if you don’t take care of it.

Though standard yoga doesn’t often lead to heavy sweating, any little bit of sweat could be getting trapped in your mat where it can feed any lingering fungus or bacteria. Do yourself a favor and clean it regularly.

TV Remotes

We hate to break it to you, but your television remote may just be one of the most disgusting things you own. Just think for one second about how many germs you could potentially pick up on your hands, how often you touch your TV remote without washing your hands, and how often you actually wash the remote itself—we’re willing to bet it’s never.

It’s actually been confirmed that the TV remote is the most germ-ridden part of any hotel room, especially when you consider that germs could survive for a few days on its surface.

Shower Heads

You might be wondering how something designed to help keep us clean could end up becoming so dirty, but the answer lies in how often you actually make time to clean it—like that TV remote of yours, our guess is that it’s not often.

Unscrew your shower head and you’ll likely find a layer of slime referred to a biofilm, which can easily become a feeding ground for bacteria. In fact, your shower could be giving you a respiratory infection without you even knowing it.

Your Washing machine

Yes, washing machines help to clean our clothes, but those detergents we add into them aren’t actually designed to get rid of germs. Not only that, but most people don’t wash their everyday laundry with hot water, so there’s really nothing to get in there and clean the machine.

If your washing machine has a setting that’s solely designed to clean itself out, give it a whirl from time or time, or just run the machine empty with hot water and bleach.

Toilets

Have you ever heard that flushing the toilet with the lid open sends tons of disgusting particles flying into the air? If you brushed it off, you shouldn’t because it’s real and it even has a name—toilet plume.

If you’re someone who’s prone to bringing your phone into the bathroom, this is a habit you should probably rethink, as any particles that settle on your phone could end up on your face or, even worse, on your fingers that later end up in your mouth.

Produce

Most people know that washing produce before eating it is the right thing to do, but there are a lot of people who probably don’t follow this rule because it’s inconvenient. However, did you know that sometimes it’s washing your produce that could be contaminating it?

For things that are pre-washed, it’s washing them in the sink that could be exposing them to any bacteria that could be lurking there. If you’re someone who likes to make sure your produce is extra clean, make sure you’re not exposing it to anything but water.

Kitchen Gadgets

When was the last time you cleaned off the blade on your can opener, the meat and produce drawers in your refrigerator, or the gasket of your blender? These items come into contact with food often, and they’re ones that most of us don’t even think to clean.

It’s important to consider, though, as they could be introducing bacteria into our food with each use.

Handshakes

There are some who can’t stand a weak handshake, but did you know that a weak handshake actually transfers less germs than a strong one? In fact, a strong handshake is likely to transfer twice the amount of bacteria to the other person’s hand than a weak one is.

Your best bets? When you can, go with a high-five or a fist bump, and just try not to give too firm of a handshake the rest of the time.

Waiting Room Magazines

It might not seem like a magazine would be home to too many germs, but consider how many people might touch them on any given day, along with the fact that they can’t be disinfected.

If you’re looking at a magazine in a doctor’s office waiting room, you should also think about what the person who read the magazine before you might’ve been in the office for, and whether or not they could’ve left a piece of it behind.

Water Bottles

Yes, a reusable water bottle is excellent for the Earth, but it might not always be the best for your health if you don’t wash it often. Even if you don’t mean to, you could be adding bacteria from your mouth into you water with each drink you take, and it’ll only start to multiply as the water sits.

How much bacteria, exactly? Research shows that any given water bottle may be home to “300,000 colony-forming units per square centimeter.”

Escalators

Next time you head to the mall or airport, think twice before you grab onto the handrail of that escalator. Tests have shown that they commonly contain substances like blood, feces, urine, mucus, E. coli, and plain ol’ food.

If you have to grab on for whatever reason, hunt for some hand sanitizer before you do anything else, and especially before you touch your face, phone, or especially your mouth.

Tags 50019571, care, hemingway

Sweat

14 Cosmetic Products That Aren't Really Helpful At All

Post author By Lisa Douglas
Post date March 30, 2017

You want to believe that they work. You spend so much money on them and invest so much time in using them. But sadly, most of the beauty products that we rely on to make us [linkbuilder id=”6645″ text=”look younger”], prettier, and like we’ve slept for 10 hours don’t do what they promise.

The Huffington Post and YouGov calculated that about 60 percent of American women use at least one beauty product every day, more than 35 percent of women use one or two daily, 17 percent use three or four products daily, and 7 percent use six or more products every day. Over the course of a lifetime, the average woman spends $15,000 on beauty products.
That’s a whole lot of your hard-earned money being wasted on products that may or may not work. We’re here to help you save time and money! We’ve compiled a list of the 14 most popular products that really don’t do a thing for you (except drain your bank account).

Split End Remedies

Those pricey creams, lotions, and serums promise to mend split ends and make them look healthy again. Truth is, nothing can bind hair permanently together.

Split end products may temporarily stick your hair together, giving the illusion that the problem is fixed, but take a shower or brush your hair, and your splits are back again. Save your cash and invest in a great haircut (the only thing known to actually fix split ends).

Hand Cream, Body Lotion, Foot Cream

Ever notice that eye cream costs an arm and a leg, next to foot cream, then hand cream…with body lotion being the most reasonable? This is marketing mania at its best.

The reality is, all cream is created equal, just the packaging differs. Typically the more expensive creams are placed in more expensive-looking packaging. But despite their facades, all moisturizing creams work the same way, and you can use the same one on all parts of your body.

Facial Toner

Toners are meant to mop up the oil on your face, but unfortunately they often end up doing the opposite. Most toners are primarily alcohol, which overly dries your face.

When your face is too dry, it signals your body to produce even more oil, making the product counterproductive. Dermatologists recommend cleaning your face with cleansing cream because it’s less harsh and will maintain your skin’s proper pH.

Lip Balm

Some balms are okay and will nourish the precious skin on your lips, but most contain camphor, phenol, and menthol, all of which dry your skin. In the case of lip balm, you end up getting caught in a vicious cycle. The more you use it, the drier your lips get. The drier your lips are, the more you feel the need to use it.

Some experts recommend using Vaseline or beeswax with an olive or coconut oil. Check the ingredients on the product that you want to use and make sure it contains no harmful ingredients.

Cellulite Cream

Oh, we really, really want cellulite cream to work. Really we do. But all studies point to it being a hoax.

Creams can soften the skin and give a short-term plumped effect, but the only two things that can fight cellulite are exercise and a healthy diet. (And even then, exercise can reduce cellulite, but it can’t spot-treat it. Your genes are your genes, folks.)

Bust Cream

After cellulite cream, this is the next product we hoped and prayed was a keeper. Alas, studies show it’s not (sigh). Here’s what U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists have to say about bust-enhancing products: “For decades, millions of dollars have been spent on devices, creams, and lotions advertised as breast developers, all wasted. There is no device or system of exercise that will increase the size of the breasts.

“At best, devices promoted as breast developers merely strengthen and develop the muscles that support the breasts, and exercising these muscles will not really increase breast size.”

Anti-Aging/Age-Reversal Serums

Look around and you’ll notice that practically every cosmetic company has some sort of anti-aging/age-reversal product. Marketing companies prey on the insecurities of women and can make false claims without many consequences. They know that they are able to make a lot of money on these products because women are willing to pay a lot for a chance to look younger without surgery.

The only proven product that can reduce the signs of aging is retinoic acid, and the only product that will keep your skin from wrinkling as quickly is sunscreen (and a big ol’ hat).

Tissue Masks

These amusing-looking face dressings are fun to use (especially with friends or for an awesome FB profile pic) but at $5 or more per mask, they’re really unnecessary.

Most tissue masks moisturize your face or absorb oil just like simple cream masks, which are half the price.

Lip Plumpers

We smear on lip plumpers in hopes of looking like Angelina Jolie in a matter of minutes. The problem is, most lip plumpers work by irritating the lips with harsh products. Your lips react to the acid and they blow up…temporarily.

Want bigger-looking lips? Makeup artists suggest a painless act of extending your lipstick or lip pencil above your natural lip line and adding a dab of shiny gloss to your bottom lip.

Makeup With SPF Protection

As much as we love two-in-one products, the truth is that you can’t get enough protection with SPF-infused makeup. Dermatologists warn that you must apply sun protection over the entire face to effectively protect your skin from the sun.

Unfortunately, most women don’t want to cover their whole face with makeup, so they often miss spots or don’t put enough on for it to work. Save your money on this one and buy a separate, reasonably priced sunscreen.

Shaving Cream

Way back when, shaving cream was a necessary expense. It served to soften hair follicles and help the razor blade glide over the skin, thus eliminating nicks and cuts. The problem was, shaving cream was pretty expensive.

Enter shower gel! Today, most gels are quite cheap and contain the key ingredient glycerol, which is an effective emollient that’s perfect for shaving.

Stretch Mark Cream

Ahh, dreaded stretch marks…a female’s war wounds that tell silent tales of childbirth or becoming a woman. Most women would do anything to eliminate them, and the [linkbuilder id=”6646″ text=”beauty industry”] knows this.

Cosmetic companies claim that their creams stimulate the production of collagen and erase stretch marks, but unfortunately, studies show that stretch mark creams are ineffective and serve to only temporarily moisturize and tighten the skin surrounding the area. Some studies show that bitter almond oil may help, and further research surrounding laser therapy has shown to be promising at reducing stretch marks.

Expensive Cleansers

Take a walk down the aisles of your beauty store of choice, and you can find yourself spending anywhere from $5 to over $100 on a daily facial cleanser. Most dermatologists think that spending an excessive amount on something that is on your face for such a short period is a waste and view it as throwing money down the drain. A cleanser is meant to remove makeup, oil, and dirt. That’s it.

Any claims of doing more are false and a waste. Some dermatologists do recommend spending the money that you save on cleansers and investing in an electronic cleansing brush, which uses ultrasonic vibration to gently and deeply clean your skin.

Pore-Shrinking Products

As the old saying goes, “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.” Your pore size is predetermined by your genes, and no product has ever been proven to diminish the size of them.

Products simply unclog them or temporarily fill them with silicone so they appear to disappear.

Tags 50019241, body, Commerce, hemingway

Lifestyle

8 Health "Hacks" That Are Totally Absurd

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date March 30, 2017

At some point, the internet started saying “hacks” when it meant “tips,” and “health hacks” suddenly became a popular trend. We have no problem with that. We’re always grateful for some helpful advice.

However, some of those health hacks are misleading, silly, or downright dangerous. We’re talking about tips like…

1. Feeling stressed? Eat some fish.

One popular life hack claims that high levels of omega-3 fatty acids could help you deal with stress. Science backs some of that up to a degree; people who eat a lot of fish tend to be better equipped for dealing with some of the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

But it’s quite a leap to say that you should eat fish to eliminate stress, since there are far more effective coping methods available. Meditation seems to be the most effective, but there’s also value in exercising and spending time with friends. Really, “chow down on some salmon” is pretty far down the list of effective stress therapies.

We’re not saying that you shouldn’t eat more fish, but it’s not an effective short-term solution for stress or mental health disorders. It is, however, delicious.

2. Try shaving your face with peanut butter.

Proponents claim that it works “just as well” as shaving gel, and that it’s much cheaper. They claim that the oils in peanut butter nourish your skin—that explains why we’ve never seen an ugly peanut.

First of all, we’ll set aside the obvious issue, which is that you’ll have to explain to all of your friends and family why you’re keeping a jar of peanut butter in your shower. The main issue with this hack is that if you’ve sworn off shaving cream, there are so many other options.

Any oil will work fairly well, for starters. So will standard soap. Really, you just need a shaving lotion that holds your hair in place without drying out your skin; anything slightly more viscous than water should do the trick.

Olive oil is our choice, since the oil acts as an effective hydration barrier (without making us smell like we’re going on a date with a jar of grape jelly).

3. Smell an orange to make yourself feel better.

According to this hack, you can become more alert, less anxious, and generally happier by smelling an orange rind. There’s even science to back it up!

Well, sort of. It’s true that one study indicated that citrus oil is a natural mood booster. However, the scientists behind that study never asked participants to sniff fruit.

Researchers actually piped the “ambient odor of orange” into a dental waiting room while patients waited for treatment. They then interviewed the patients about the experience and found that the orange odor reduced anxiety, but they also found that lavender produced similar results.

It’s possible that the patients simply preferred a waiting room that smelled like something other than a dentist’s office. It’s quite a stretch to say that you should walk around with some orange peel in your pocket in case you need a natural antidepressant.

4. Eat probiotic supplements to “reseed” the good bacteria in your gut.

Probiotic supplements contain limited amounts of bacteria—maybe a few species, not counting the dozens that latch onto the outside of the pill. That’s not nearly enough diversity to “reseed” the bacteria that live in a healthy digestive tract.

What’s more, they’re often the wrong types of bacteria; in fact, thinking of bacteria as “good” or “bad” is problematic, since some species are helpful in one context, but harmful in another.

Escherichia coli (E. coli), for instance, play an important role in breaking down your food, but the bacterium is quite dangerous when ingested. Plus, everyone’s gut is different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here.

In short, there’s a lot we don’t know about the bacteria in our guts, and scientists aren’t sure how to use probiotics effectively yet. Those probiotic supplements—along with probiotic drinks and other products—probably don’t do much of anything, at least for the time being.

5. Chew gum to burn calories and tone your chin.

It makes sense, right? If you’re constantly engaging your jaw muscles, that’s got to be doing something for you.

Well, yes and no. It’s true that chewing sugar-free gum burns some calories—about 11 an hour, according to Livestrong.com—but you’d burn many more calories simply by walking around for a few minutes. Plus, many people miss the “sugar-free” part of that last sentence and end up adding more calories to their diet than they subtract.

If you’re really committed, we suppose you could chew really hard. Your best bet is to watch your intake and try to walk around for about 3 to 10 minutes an hour.

As for toning the jaw, that’s not really a thing; your body will lose fat from the last place it gained it, so when you’re losing weight, you’re not going to end up with a big belly and a super-defined chin line.

6. Yell expletives to deal with pain.

We really, really wanted this to be true, and lo and behold, it is. Sort of. We’re writing that a lot in this article.

Research wonderfully titled “Swearing as a Response to Pain” showed that pain tolerance increased when participants yelled out a few choice words. There were some caveats; the effect diminished among frequent swearers, so the researchers recommended moderation for dirty-mouthed individuals looking to take advantage of this science.

But again, the question is whether this is really good life advice, and this just doesn’t qualify. Yelling expletives can actually add to your stress by annoying the people around you—something that this research didn’t take into account. And the fact remains that you can deal with stress more effectively through meditation.

If you really want to manage your stress efficiently, we suppose you could meditate while yelling expletives, but we’re guessing you’d get kicked out of your local Zen center pretty quickly.

7. Draw out the toxins in your mouth by swishing around some coconut oil.

This is a trend called “oil pulling,” since you pull the oil through your teeth for about 10 to 15 minutes. Proponents claim that it treats a host of conditions while whitening your teeth. Dentists actually don’t mind the practice, but there are a few important caveats.

First of all, oil does nothing to pull “toxins” from your teeth. It doesn’t replace the need to brush and floss. It’s also unsafe for children, since kids can accidentally inhale the oil, risking pneumonia.

Adults interested in oil pulling should use high-quality, organic oils. Although coconut oil is fine, you’ll get the same results from olive oil. In fact, you’ll get similar results from plain water.

The major benefit of the practice is that it clears the gunk from between your teeth, so you can use pretty much any sugar-free liquid you’d like. Just be sure to brush afterward.

8. Need to lose weight? Reset your system with intermittent fasting.

If you’re completely healthy, fasting probably won’t put your body in serious danger, but it certainly won’t help you lose weight in the long term. Fasting puts your body in starvation mode, because—duh—you’re starving yourself.

Your body’s not sure when it’s going to be able to eat again or if another starvation period’s co
ming. When you start eating, it’ll store excess energy as fat reserves, just as a squirrel saves a supply of the fattiest nuts for winter.

Oh, and if you’re not otherwise healthy, fasting is extremely dangerous. It can cause liver or kidney damage, and any medications will be much more powerful, which can wreak havoc on your weakened system. Even over-the-counter pain relievers can put your body at serious risk.

It might not be flashy, but doctors recommend that you lose weight the old-fashioned way: diet and exercise. Leave the fasting to Beyoncé.

Tags 50019336, body, hemingway

Wellbeing

8 Cleaning "Hacks" That Are Totally Absurd

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date March 30, 2017

We’ve been fooled by cleaning “hacks” before.

Hacks, by the way, are just tips, typically delivered via a single viral picture. They’re everywhere on social media, and some cleaning hacks are quite useful. They can make difficult chores fairly easy and improve your life substantially.

This article isn’t about those.

Many cleaning hacks seem exciting in theory, but they’re not so effective in practice. Here are a few of the most frustrating examples.

1. Baking soda cleans your sofa and gets rid of strange odors.

That it does. Baking soda can get rid of most strong odors, as anyone who’s ever stashed a box in the refrigerator knows.

But you can easily ruin certain fabrics by covering them in baking soda. If the fabric is especially soft, the fine grains of baking soda will essentially become a permanent part of your couch. We’d spot-test an area first. Alternately, you can just use coarse salt, which should also soak up odors fairly effectively.

2. Use baking soda and vinegar to clean your shower.

Or your sink. Or your kitchen. Or your kids.

Cleaning websites will tell you that baking soda and vinegar are a classic pair. They’re the peanut butter and jelly of cleaning. Typically you’re told to put baking soda on the hard-to-clean surface, then add the vinegar. Wait a few minutes as the magical bubbles do their work.

There’s a problem here, though. Vinegar is acidic, which is why it’s an effective cleaner on its own. Leave it on a surface, and it will dig up stains, eliminate grease, and do a bunch of other neat stuff. Baking soda is a base. It’s great for soaking up odors, but it cancels out acids.

You see the problem yet? Combine vinegar and baking soda, and you’ll have, at best, a weak acid or a weak base. The bubbles look impressive, but it’s not a sign that the solution is actually cleaning anything.

3. Add a touch of black pepper to your laundry to keep the colors from fading.

People really love natural cleaning solutions, so myths like this one spread fairly quickly. This is one of the strangest suggestions.

The idea is that something in the spice stops the colors from running, although the articles that recommend it don’t back that up with any sort of scientific evidence. That’s not a surprise, since there’s nothing in pepper that could conceivably do this, especially when dissolved in a full load of laundry.

Pepper does contain a chemical called piperine, which gives it its spiciness. This compound yields a salt at extremely high temperatures—but if that’s the important ingredient, why not just add salt?

In any case, if a dash of pepper was all that manufacturers needed to colorfast their clothes, they’d use it. The fact is that if the clothes aren’t colorfast by the time that they get to you, you’re out of luck, unfortunately; your pepper bath isn’t going to help the colors stick.

One thing that you can do is to read the labels carefully and avoid hot water cycles when they’re not necessary. Save the salt and pepper for dinner.

4. Use salt and lemon juice to clean your cutting board without chemicals.

You know what salt is? Sodium chloride, a chemical compound.

Citric acid, by the way, is an organic tricarboxylic acid and another chemical compound. Saying that you’re cleaning “without chemicals” is like saying that you’re cooking “without ingredients.” It doesn’t really make any sense. Plus, it assumes that “chemicals” like dish soap are unsafe, which is absolutely untrue.

Now, this solution will probably work, and it’ll probably leave your cutting board smelling fresh, but it’s certainly not more effective than soap. Soap gets rid of oils by combining molecules that attract water and molecules that repel water, allowing oil to break down to a point at which it can combine with water and wash away. Hooray, chemicals!

We also wouldn’t trust salt and lemon juice to clean the plastic cutting board you use for meats—and if you’re using soap on one cutting board, why not just go ahead and use it on the other one too?

5. Use club soda to stop a stain from setting into a fabric.

This is one of the most common cleaning hacks in history. It was featured on an early episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and for many people it’s the only good reason to keep a bottle of club soda around.

We’re not going to say that it doesn’t work, but we will point out that it doesn’t work particularly well when compared with commercial stain removers. Some studies suggest that club soda works better than cold tap water, but others say that it’s essentially the same thing.

We’d bet our money against club soda (and we can’t believe we’re typing that). Although it’s a weak base, there’s no real chemical reason that it would be able to pull out stains; people really seem to use it simply because it bubbles.

For a better alternative, use a mild detergent and cold water. Be sure to start dabbing the liquid as soon as it touches the fabric, and never rub—just dab.

6. Use hairspray to get rid of small ink stains.

Your mother might have told you this tip, and back in her day, it worked quite well. She’d spray a little bit of hairspray on the ink, pat it with a towel, and watch the stain magically come out.

This sounds like a classic cleaning hack, as it repurposes something that you’ve got around the house (the hairspray) for an uncommon purpose (cleaning ballpoint ink). That’s why the tip spreads so quickly around Pinterest. But alas, it doesn’t work anymore.

Why won’t it work for you? Well, for starters, you’re not using the same hairspray as your mother, and we’re not talking about the brand. Older hairsprays often contained a decent amount of alcohol, which is extraordinarily effective at cleaning up ink. Newer hairsprays don’t have the same ingredients, however, because alcohol’s not really a necessary part of the formula. As a result, modern hairsprays don’t work nearly as effectively.

If you’re looking for an alternative, well…we’re pretty sure we just told you in the last paragraph. Rubbing alcohol—provided that it’s safe for your fabric—should accomplish the same thing.

7. Pour cola in your toilet to clean it.

This myth started out with good intentions. Someone was trying to show how cola can break down, ahem, organic matter, and that eventually led to a bizarre suggestion: Pour Coke down your commode to keep it clean.

Given enough time, cola could actually work. It’s acidic, which is part of the reason that it’s so bad for your teeth. It’s also loaded with sugar, which could be mildly corrosive (another reason that your dentist hates your soda habit).

Our problem with this hack is that soda’s expensive and not particularly effective. Bleach, vinegar, or ammonia (pick one and never combine bleach with either of the other substances) will work just fine. Citric acid, i.e. lemon juice, will also work.

Your technique is far more important. Brush the toilet first, then add your cleaner. Wait a few minutes, then scrub using a circular motion to break up stains. Hey, it’s a dirty job, but…ah, you know the rest.

8. Need to clean your windows? Wait until it’s sunny outside.

This seems to make sense. How else are you going to know whether you missed a spot?

But the best time to clean your windows is actually when it’s cloudy. The sun can dry the windows far too quickly, leaving streaks behind. Most window cleaners contain a thickening agent to prevent this—that’s what that “streak-free” claim on the label is all about—but you’ve still got to give the solution time to work.

By the way, you don’t really need an expensive glass cleaner (even though glass cleaners aren’t too expensive). You can make your own with vinegar (¼ cup), cornstarch (1 tablespoon), alcohol (¼ cup), and warm water (2 cups). This combines the cleaning power of vinegar with a drying agent (the alcohol) and a thickener (cornstarch) for a ha
ndy spray that won’t dry out too quickly.

Here’s a more in-depth look at the recipe, if you’re interested.

Tags 50019351, balance, hemingway

Lifestyle

14 Parenting "Hacks" That Are Totally Bogus

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date March 30, 2017

Parents don’t have a lot of time. They often don’t have a lot of money, and they very, very rarely get enough sleep.

However, they get plenty of one thing: advice. And most of that advice is absolutely terrible. It’s the type of stuff that seems brilliant when it’s distilled down to a single image on social media, but when you actually look closely, you realize that it’s utterly impractical at every level.
We’re talking about stuff like this.

1. “Use a box to make them a cardboard slide.”

We’ll admit that this has the potential to be a ton of fun.

But that’s clearly the first time they tried their “slide.” Cardboard’s not great at supporting a 45-pound kid, which is why it’s not used in very many children’s toys. After they slide down it once, the slide’s basically going to be a glorified “fall down the stairs” ride.
Here’s a better idea: Take the kids to the park, or get them an actual slide.

2. “Fill a glove with beans, pat the kid with it a few times, and then slip away into the night.”

Tired parents would like nothing more than to get their kids to sleep through the night. We get it. But we can think of a few things that could go wrong here.

The best case scenario is that the kid grows up with an unhealthy obsession with hands. Worst case, she thinks that her mom’s hand fell off in the crib.
Plus, that’s all assuming that this works. We’re not scientists, but something tells us that a warm human hand feels different from a glove full of beans.

3. “Put temporary tattoos on your kids to keep them from getting lost.”

What are you, an airbrush artist?

Sure, you could mark your children every day as if you’re a cattle rancher, but a much, much more practical option is to sew their address into their clothes.

4. “Get a stroller–scooter hybrid.”

Parents often end up eating junk food simply because they’re running low on time, and failing to eat eventually results in death (and crankiness).
Because of this, they need to look for creative ways to exercise. The ideal parent exercise keeps your kid right in front of you at all times, and that’s where this monstrosity comes in.

Looks fun, doesn’t it? It’s actually a really good idea on the surface: The fun of scootering nicely counteracts the stress of constant parental responsibility.
But look a little more closely at that thing, and picture the stares you’d get rolling through a supermarket. Where would you keep the diapers? Why does the baby look like they’re about to go flying off the stroller? Furthermore, if it’s actually a safe idea, why did they use a doll instead of a real baby?
Maybe that’s why the ditched the doll entirely for this shot.

Now that’s a woman who looks perfectly comfortable. Granted, her kid is somewhere out of frame—and maybe that’s why she’s so at peace.

5. “Use a vacuum to make a perfect ponytail.”

You know what really, really isn’t difficult? Making a ponytail. You don’t need power tools to do it correctly.

This hack seems to really depend on weak suction from the vacuum cleaner; grab a decent shop vac and you’re going to end up with a sore head. Also, we really, really hope that that’s a brand-new hose. Enough said.

6. “Get your infant to clean your house with this mop suit.”

If you’re actually considering this, you are the laziest parent alive…but don’t worry, we considered it, too.

The biggest issue here is that if it works, it’ll make you feel like a horrible parent. Sure, your floor’s spotless, but you made your infant crawl around for hours (and you didn’t even pay him). If it doesn’t work, it’s not quite as bad, since you just look like a horrible parent.
Plus, where are you supposed to put the Lysol?

7. “Keep that toilet seat covered—with sweat socks.”

We don’t even know why this is classified as a “parenting hack,” but we found it in a list of them, so we’ll address it.

Our issues with this idea can be summed up in one word: eww. If you really want some insulation between your kid’s rear and the cold, hard toilet seat, you can get a padded one for about $20.
If not…well, there’s not enough bleach on the planet to make these socks suitable for anything else again, and you’ll need to use multiple pairs to get through the winter. Your kid can take it. A cold butt makes you stronger.

8. “Use this jacket to build character.”

There are thousands of variations of this picture. This one’s our favorite, because it’s so utterly pointless.

First of all, we’d argue that yes, this picture does make us think that short shorts are pretty cute. Secondly, he couldn’t even commit to his cheesy joke—he’s wearing tights under the cutoffs. All this picture proves is that some people write on their jackets before they go to Walmart.
If you want to talk to your boys or girls about dressing modestly, go ahead and do it. No need to shame them in the process.

9. “Use stitched-together mittens to avoid losing your kid.”

These are certainly quite cute. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t want a pair.

But if you need to literally stitch your kid to your hand to keep him or her from rushing off into traffic, we doubt that this is the answer. It also seems like it’d be impractical if you had to do something with your hands, like, oh, say, anything at all. You’d end up wearing these once for about five seconds.
With that said, we still want a pair. So cute.

10. “Recycle old shirts.”

This is cute, but unless you’re a talented seamstress/seamster, you’re not going to get this result. It looks simple, but some serious work went into this masterpiece.

If you want to try it, by all means, have at it, but you won’t save time or money. We’d recommend taking that perfectly good shirt to a thrift store and donating it (and grabbing some kids’ clothes while you’re down there).

11. “Use glitter to make tooth fairy money.”

Look, your kid already believes that a magical fairy is giving them cash for their teeth. A little bit of glitter isn’t going to make the illusion any more magical, and it’s going to mean getting glitter all over their sheets.

Oh, and is that a $5 bill we’re seeing? This mom or dad is clearly throwing the curve for the rest of us. Parents need to form a union and standardize tooth fairy payouts at no more than $1 per tooth. $2 for a molar, maybe.

12. “Before handing your kid your iPad, put it in kid mode.”

Don’t hand your kids your iPad. Get them a cheap tablet that they can spill juice on without annihilating your vacation pics.

If you do give your kids a nice tablet, by all means, put it in kid mode, but remember that 4-year-olds are basically hackers these days. Turn your back for a second, and your savings account will be converted into Farmyard Tokens (an e-currency that we just made up, but we’re sure someone’s already patenting it).

13. “Put a popsicle in a muffin cup to save the drips.”

Of course, the popsicle stick will have created a hole at the bottom of the muffin cup…which is exactly where all of the liquid will run.

This is a great parenting hack if you want to concentrate all of the mess into a single area, but if you thought it’d save your carpets and give you a chance to relax with a cup of coffee, think again.

14. “Use baby toys to hold cabinets closed.”

Putting baby toys on something is a really great way to make a baby want to play with it. It’s really not rocket science.

You can buy really inexpensive, secure cabinet clasps that attach to the back of the doors, preventing your little one from getting under the sink—without making your house look like a bizarre prison run by an infant warden. We’d recommend trying those before you start repurposing baby toys as construction materials.

Tags 50019346, care, hemingway

Motherhood

8 Kid Expenses That Are Not Worth The Money, According To Real Parents

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date March 27, 2017

It takes a village to raise a child…and $233,610, according to the latest figures from the Department of Agriculture.
Yeah, kids are expensive. We realize that’s not new information to any parent.
However, young parents might not realize that many expenses are optional, provided that you’re willing to be the Big, Bad Parent that denies certain creature comforts.

“Because we are trained by society to be busy, and because having children truly does make life quite full, parents may lean towards quick fixes to bring ease,” Courtney Harris, M.Ed, an experienced educator and parenting coach, tells HealthyWay. “When we feel overly busy or overwhelmed, it’s easier to buy things or say yes to options that bring temporary relief (or even just the possibility of temporary relief).”
To be clear, kids will always be fairly expensive, but you’ll save a few thousand bucks by cutting out…

1. The Trendiest Toys

Popular electronic toys for babies and young children can seem like a necessity—especially when the product is marketed as “educational.” However, in reality, these products usually don’t offer much in way of actual substance.

“They cost a lot. And they create a lot of sensory stimulation—sounds, changing lights, movement, etc. which is not so great for young kids,” psychologist Anna Prudovski tells HealthyWay. “Babies learn about their world through interaction, which is meant to be slower-paced. Over-stimulation makes them tired and cranky but doesn’t teach much.”
You might be tempted to buy those ultra-expensive toys for Christmas, but stick to your principles. Remember that your kid will move on from the trendy stuff fairly quickly.

2. A Castle in Their Kingdom

What’s more American than a swing set in the backyard or a little log cabin for the kids’ playroom? Playsets are a classic children’s gift, but they’re also a ridiculous purchase in many households.

Here’s why: For kids, playsets typically hold their allure for a few months, at most. For parents, they become an obnoxious obstruction. If they’re indoors, you have to clean around them. If they’re outdoors, they can actually lower your property value, and some insurance providers might cancel your policy if the playsets create a liability.
On top of that, playsets can be extraordinarily expensive. As with so many of the other items on this list, you can save a ton by buying used playsets (trust us, there are plenty of parents looking to get rid of these things).
Alternately, you can build your own—and in the process, you’ll be avoiding pressure-treated wood with preservatives like copper, chromium, and arsenic.

3. Go Go Gadgets

Your kid wants a brand-new, state-of-the-art computer capable of playing all the latest video games. You might consider dropping a thousand dollars or more for the latest and greatest tech, but that machine will be essentially obsolete within a few years (if your kid doesn’t manage to break it first).

First, consider whether your child actually needs a computer, and make sure that you’ve got the requisite tools to keep your kid safe online. Alas, even if you’re a tech guru, your kid is eventually going to be better at computers than you are, so your safety precautions need to be absolutely foolproof.
Once you’ve worked through those considerations, look into starting out with a cheaper machine, at least until your teen has established good internet habits. Low-powered laptop computers like Chromebooks are excellent options, as they’re well equipped for browsing the internet, writing documents, and playing simple games. They’re also quite inexpensive, so if something goes horribly wrong, it’s not a big deal.

4. Learning a Few Chords

We’re certainly not saying that you shouldn’t get kids started on music early. However, before you blow a fortune on a trumpet (pardon the pun), make sure that you’re getting something that your kid actually wants—and that he or she will stick with it.

Many schools can hook you up with an instrument rental program. If your school isn’t helpful, hit up the local music store. They’ll also be able to give you some tips on what to buy (or how to rent) for a younger learner.
“When a kid is 4 or 5, she’s usually capable of learning an instrument,” a St. Louis-based music instructor who asked to remain anonymous tells us. “Parents shouldn’t push their kids too hard, but it’s never too early to start. With that said, many kids grow out of it, so rent before you buy.”

That could help you avoid wasting money on an adult-sized instrument that your child won’t be able to manage. As always, try to buy used.
Take the money that you were going to spend on a new, shiny instrument and put it toward lessons; you’ll get much more bang for your buck, and your kid will stand a better chance of becoming a well-rounded musician if they get the guidance they need right away.

5. Fashion Model Status

When it comes to what clothing they wear, “before the end of middle school, kids don’t really care,” according to Prudovski.
“When they start caring, this often turns into yet another source of struggle, as they want the latest popular brands and trends—no point of getting them to that stage earlier than needed.”

Kids will be absolutely fine in whatever you can provide for them, provided that it’s not absolutely hideous (we’ll never forgive our moms for getting us those camo print cargo shorts, either). Sure, babies look cute in Louis Vuitton, but they’ll grow out of those expensive clothes in a matter of weeks. Most clothes don’t have any sort of resale value whatsoever, so your best bet is to go with the best deal.
That doesn’t necessarily mean cheap clothes, however—buy well-made garments that will last through a few tussles on the playground before they inevitably end up in a Goodwill donation bin.

Oh, and by the way, Goodwill? It’s a totally great place to shop for children. Where else can you pick up seven name-brand shirts for a couple of bucks? Just be sure to launder those clothes before you pass them off to the kids.

6. IDK My BFF Jill

Sure, every kid on your block has a smartphone, but your job as a parent isn’t to make your child like every other child; it’s to do what’s best for them.
That might mean refusing a request for a new cellphone, at least until your child is responsible enough to carry one. Ditto for tablets and other mobile devices.

“There’s usually a lot of pressure from the child to get the phone early. And if could be reassuring for the parent to know that the child is just a call or text away at all times,” says Prudovski. “But more and more studies point to a correlation between excessive use of electronic devices and mental health issues. Most kids could really do without a smartphone until high school or at least late middle school.”
When you believe that your kid’s ready for a phone, try giving them a cheap, non-smartphone (yes, they still make them) for a few months. If that device isn’t irreparably damaged by the end of the trial period, you can consider a more expensive option.
Remember, even if your kid’s ready for a smartphone, you don’t need to buy a brand-new model. Look on Craigslist for a gently used smartphone, taking care to wipe the storage before handing it over. Your pocketbook will thank you (even if your child doesn’t).

7. Cartoon-Covered Bicycles

Well, new bicycles, anyway.

Bikes are expensive, and there’s not a huge advantage to buying them new. With a little elbow grease, you can fix up any old bike so that it looks great, and those brand-new mountain bikes aren’t so great in the first place—just ask any bike repair shop for their opinion on the specials from big box stores.
If you can find them, older bikes are built to last, and they’ll teach your kid some important skills (repairing a flat tire, for instance, or resetting a chain). Your kid won’t care if a bike’s secondhand, anyway, and you’ll save a decent amount of money.

You can put the cash you save toward new safety gear, which is a must. Be sure that your child gets into the habit of wearing a helmet and pads, and never buy helmets secondhand, as a single crash can compromise the helmet’s structural integrity.
Oh, and make sure that both the bike and helmet are sized properly; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides a simple guide with more safe biking tips.

8. Baby’s First Vacation

Don’t learn this lesson the hard way: Big family vacations can wait.
We totally get it, by the way. You’re excited about your new baby, and you’re ready for your first family vacation. You choose some far-off destination and start packing your bags. It’s all in good fun, right? Think of all the memories you’ll make!

But trust us, it won’t be easy. There are few things worse than traveling with an infant, and until your kid is at least potty trained, you probably won’t have a great experience. True, their innocent delight at the sights and sounds of a new destination might be worth it, but be prepared to spend much of the trip dealing with tantrums, feedings, and general misery.
While some people may want their toddlers to see the world (and that’s understandable), it’s not until a kid is 8 or 9 years old that they’ll really appreciate what they’re seeing. Holding off until that age could serve the kiddo and your wallet well.

That might be a bummer, but knowing when to spend and when to save is an important part of being a parent.
“To be honest, kids do not need most of the expensive things we buy them,” says Prudovski. “They need a safe and calm environment and a parent who can interact with them. No electronics and expensive toys or gadgets required.”
Good luck.

Tags 50019141, hemingway, parenting

Sweat

Why You Keep Getting Sick To Your Stomach

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date March 27, 2017

Abdominal discomfort isn’t a whole lot of fun, and when you’re regularly suffering from an upset stomach, you want fast answers.

Of course, you won’t get those answers from a list on the internet—you really should speak with your physician—but we can provide you with an overview of some of the more common medical issues that can cause nausea, cramps, and other gastrointestinal symptoms (we’ll let you use your imagination for that last part).
Before we get started, remember: Some conditions can be medically significant, so if you have regular upset stomachs, we strongly encourage you to see a doctor. In many cases, you can treat the symptoms in a matter of days once you know what you’re dealing with, but putting off a visit to the doctor’s office could make you even sicker.

With that said, let’s look at a few of the most common causes of regular stomach issues, and what you’ll need to know if you’re diagnosed with any of them.

1. Sudden Changes in Diet or Activity

We’ll start with a few of the more common issues that affect your digestive tract before we get into the medically significant stuff.

Diet, obviously, is a major factor. As you age, your ability to digest certain foods will also change; lactose intolerance, for example, affects adults far more severely than children. Adults also have a tougher time creating the enzymes that allow them to break down beans, which leads to symptoms that…well, everyone remembers the rhyme.
Too much exercise can also stimulate blood flow to your intestinal tract, prompting your body to, ahem, speed up your schedule, if you get our drift. If you’ve recently started exercising, you should be especially careful with your diet. Otherwise, you’ll be risking some unpleasant symptoms.

If you’re frequently dealing with digestive issues, consider how your activity has changed. You might be able to reduce your symptoms simply by paying closer attention to your daily routine.

2. Diverticulitis

Diverticulitis is inflammation of pouches in the large bowel walls (the diverticulum), and it’s often debilitating. It’s also extremely common; in the United States, about 35 percent of people have diverticulosis, which can become diverticulitis if left unchecked.

Symptoms can include sudden abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and bleeding. Mild symptoms can include cramps, bloating, and constipation.
If your physician diagnoses you with diverticulitis, you’ll likely need a CT scan to confirm the presence of the inflammation. You may need to change your diet to address the symptoms; physicians often recommend higher fiber diets. If the cause of the condition is bacterial, you might also need antibiotics. In extreme cases, doctors recommend surgery, but this is exceedingly rare.

In any case, chronic diverticulosis deserves attention, because it can eventually lead to dangerous complications if the diverticulum bursts. In most cases, treatment is fairly straightforward, so it’s certainly worth a visit to the doctor.

3. Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Not to be confused with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS, which we’ll address next), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (or, you guessed it, IBD) is the chronic inflammation of the digestive tract.

It’s actually the name for several related conditions, which can be confusing for patients. IBD typically includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, both of which are serious conditions. Symptoms include pain, fatigue, weight loss, and diarrhea.
Because IBD is such a complex disease with a fairly broad set of symptoms, there’s no single cause. Changes in gut flora (the microbes that live in your intestines) can prompt IBD, as can genetics, diet, or a breach of your intestinal barrier.

In some cases, IBD isn’t curable, but symptoms can be controlled with medical treatments including immunosuppressive drugs or steroids. Physicians will usually recommend an extremely controlled diet in order to remove some of the triggers that cause pain, fatigue, and other severe symptoms. Still, you can live a completely normal life with most types of IBD, provided that you seek treatment.

4. Irritable Bowel Syndrome

From a strict medical standpoint, it’s inaccurate to say that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the cause of a chronically upset stomach, because IBS is just the name for a group of symptoms.

Those symptoms include (but are not limited to) changes in your bowel habits, headaches, nausea, fatigue, fevers, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, and of course, diarrhea or constipation. With such a wide variety of symptoms, IBS is quite the common diagnosis; the syndrome affects between 25 and 45 million people in the United States alone, according to the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders.
In any case, symptoms can be unpredictable. The causes vary greatly, and include some of the other items on this list.

That’s why gastrointestinal issues can be so frustrating—two doctors might tell you completely different things, and they could both be technically correct. Still, while IBS isn’t curable, it’s treatable with medication, stress management, or a controlled diet.

5. Gastritis

Gastritis is somewhat related to the other inflammatory conditions we’ve covered. It’s the inflammation of the stomach lining, or mucosa, which can be painful and occasionally dangerous.

If you have gastritis, you’ll often feel nauseous, especially after eating, and you may have pain in your upper abdomen. Heartburn, bloating, and other symptoms might also accompany the condition, although the exact symptoms vary from person to person.
Gastritis can lead to ulcers or tumors if the condition is erosive, but only a doctor can make that call. The good news is that many types of gastritis are easily treated with antacids. In fact, most cases resolve without any type of medical treatment, as this is one of the most common gastrointestinal conditions.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t seek treatment, however, as extreme, chronic cases of gastritis can be serious. Plus, given the large number of effective treatments available, there’s no reason to put up with the pain.

6. Stress and Sleep Deprivation

Scientists aren’t exactly sure why, but sleep disturbances are closely linked with gastrointestinal symptoms including heartburn, nausea, diarrhea, and constipation.

Unfortunately, there’s a chicken-and-egg scenario here: Scientists aren’t sure whether people with GI disorders are more prone to sleep disturbances, or vice versa.
However, we do know that mood disorders are also important indicators, and we can draw from that information to make a few conclusions. People with anxiety are much more likely to experience digestive issues, or they’re at least more likely to focus on the presence of those symptoms (which, in turn, makes them feel even worse). When this is the case, treating stress and anxiety can reduce symptoms dramatically.

That means that for many people, treatment is fairly simple. Doctors can prescribe anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs, but first, they’ll recommend lifestyle changes. Exercising regularly, meditating, taking part in social activities, and regulating your sleep schedule can get rid of some symptoms.

7. Medications

Some medications can cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Antibiotics, especially, can throw your system into a state of shock by killing off essential bacteria in your intestines—including the microbes that help you break down complex foods.

Unfortunately, there might not be much that you can do if this is the case, other than wait; one study suggested that antibiotics can change your gut’s microbiome for an entire year. Stick to easily digestible foods, adding complex foods (such as cheeses and processed meats) into your diet very gradually.
You could try probiotics, but the science is still out on those. One study showed that commercial probiotics weren’t effective in treating diarrhea, and no over-the-counter probiotic could introduce the exact bacteria species that you lost due to the antibiotics.

If you’ve been taking another medication, however, you should definitely speak with your physician to explore alternatives. Many similar drugs have wildly different side effects, so tell your doctor about your concerns if you think that medications are causing your symptoms.

Tags 50019101, body, hemingway

Lifestyle

These Creative Gender Reveals Are Way Too Much Fun

Post author By Lisa Douglas
Post date March 24, 2017

You’re pregnant! One of the first things people usually ask you is, “Are you gonna find out what you’re having?”

For most of us, the answer is, “Yes!!!” In fact, a Harvard study revealed that over half of us (58 percent, in fact) want to know the sex of our babies.

But knowing your baby’s gender in the womb wasn’t always possible. Way back when, you wouldn’t find out the gender of your baby after it was born. It was until the 1950s that the first ultrasound was developed and not until the late 1970s that American doctors used it regularly to determine your fetus’ sex.

Now, we can’t only find out what we’re having; we also don’t want to keep the secret to ourselves! Modern-day couples are not just skywriting their baby’s gender (talk about overdone!), they are outdoing each other and creating the most fun ways to tell their besties if they’re having a boy or a girl. Check out the coolest baby reveals of all time!

Fireworks!

Skywriting is so passé. This couple enlisted the help of a fireworks company to announce to the world the sex of their baby with a bang.

Monica and Graham Driscoll of Nova Scotia sent their baby’s sex in an envelope to the company and in response, they were sent a dynamite plunger that contained an unknown color of fireworks. They surprised guests (and themselves) with a bright pink message in the night sky. We love Graham’s response!

Dye-ing to Know

What better way to let the world know if you’re having a boy or a girl, than to wear your baby’s gender on your sleeve…er on your head.

Mom-to-be Amanda Parrish had her hairdresser surprise her and her partner with the gender of their baby by having the stylist dye her hair pink or blue based on the ultrasound result. Now that’s commitment!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Baseball is considered a family sport and bringing family and friends together to play baseball and learn the gender of your new family addition is so befitting. That’s what Monique Tello and Steven Statter did.

Monique’s sister was the only person to learn the sex of their baby after her ultrasound. She surprised everyone by filling a plastic Christmas ornament with powdered chalk (pink or blue) and painted it to look like a baseball then pitched the ornament to Statter, who hit it smashingly! To his surprise a pink powder bomb was released.

Squirt Gun Party

You know what kind of family you’re being born into when your gender is announced via a fun and wild squirt gun party!

This absolutely adorable couple filled water guns with paint the color of their baby’s gender and invited their family and friends to have a crazy squirt party to celebrate the coming of their newest addition. We want in!

Oops, They’re What Color??

A fun way of finding out the gender of your baby is to send an envelope of your baby’s gender to a balloon company and have them send you a box filled with pink or blue balloons for a surprising reveal. That’s what this couple did, as they recorded it in front of their friends and family.

Unfortunately, the balloon company seemed to be as confused as the couple was about their baby’s gender, but thank goodness they got it right the second time around.

How sweet it is! Congratulations to the happy family.

Big Brother/Sister Surprise

Sometimes kids aren’t as excited about the birth of a sibling and the possibility of having to share their toys, food and parents’ attention. We love the look on Baylee Stueven’s son’s face and love even more that she chose this picture to send to her friends and family to announce the coming of her baby. That’s real life!

Cutie Cupcakes

Everyone loves cupcakes, especially kids. A fun way to reveal the gender of your baby to them is to fill cupcakes with pink or blue frosting, so that the gender is revealed when they take a bite. Unfortunately, you can’t make everyone happy.

When Heidi Guerard and her husband, Shaun, wanted to surprise their young daughters with the sex of their third child, it didn’t go exactly as they planned. We just adore this little girl’s reaction to her cupcake reveal.

Confetti Crazy

Revealing the gender of your baby is an exciting time and nothing matches that excitement like a blast of color coded confetti! This picture makes us excited for them too!

All in a Row

Sometimes a picture can say a thousand words and we think this one is just creatively perfect. Nothing like saying it with shoes.

Layer by Layer

Lots of people use cakes to reveal the gender of their babies, but this cake takes it a step further! This couple, who was expecting twins, left the task of the reveal up to their baker when they handed him a sealed envelope and instructed him to surprise them with a color-coded cake.

We love their surprise when they were presented with a polka dotted, two-tiered cake that had one pink and one blue layer—one each for the boy/girl twins they were having!

A Little Halloween Fun

What a fun idea to make a holiday even more exciting! This family had the best jack-o-lantern on the block and had trick-or-treaters running to their house.

They skillfully carved the message, “It’s a boy!” on the face and presented it on Halloween night for all of the neighborhood to see. Wonder what next year’s pumpkin will look like?!

Lottery Scratcher

Finding out the gender of your baby is as exciting as (if not more than) winning the lottery.

We think that this idea of announcing the gender of their baby via a homemade lottery scratcher is completely ingenious.

Silly String War

Who doesn’t love silly string? (Well, probably, the people who have to clean it up.) Silly string makes everything more festive and we think that having your baby’s gender announced to you via pink or blue foam festivities is just perfect.

Check out this couple as they are surprised by their friends. (P.S. we want to cry with Mom and Dad too!)

Creative Sibling

We love fun and witty photo shoots with babies and this picture elicits hundreds of smiles along with the gender reveal of her little brother.

This announcement was sent out to all of the couple’s family and friends and we couldn’t be more delighted. Do we see a model in the making?

Piñata Party

Piñatas are considered big party items and what better way to find out the sex of your baby by being showered with pink or blue candy and confetti?

Comedian and YouTube blogger GloZell was surprised by her mother and her friend with a piñata to hit to reveal her baby’s gender. She not only revealed that she was having a girl, but we also got to see how strong she is!

Belly Painting

Why not use your belly as a canvas to tell your partner (and everyone else) if your baby is a boy or girl? Mom-to-be Tatiana Harris harnessed her inner Bob Ross and took a paintbrush to her midsection to create a message to reveal to her friends and family.

She wore a baggy shirt to a party and then had the baby’s father lift her shirt to surprise all that she was having a boy! As a bonus, all of the dad’s friends showered him with blue paint as well.

Tags 50018981, care, hemingway

Nosh

8 Toxic Things You Didn't Know You Were Feeding Your Kids

Post author By Megan Senseney
Post date March 24, 2017

We all know the basic diet no-nos for our kids: no corn syrup, less sugar, fewer chicken nuggets. You might be surprised to hear that there are a lot more of them out there, and you could be giving them to your kids every day.

Every parent wants to give their child the best they can, and that’s especially true when it comes to food. Did you know, however, that even the most conscious of parents could be exposing their children to toxic substances each and every day? Here are some of the harmful materials you could be giving your children without even knowing it.

Arsenic

Most people probably hear about arsenic on some of their favorite crime shows, whether true or fictional, but it’s something you could actually be feeding to your own children. The inorganic, more toxic form of arsenic is present in rice in pretty high levels because it leaches from the soil into the water rice grows in. Large amounts can eventually begin to affect children’s learning abilities, which is important to be aware of when you consider how many foods made for young children are made from rice.

The Solution?

Thankfully, the FDA has set limits for the amount of arsenic that can be present in rice-based products for children, such as rice cereal. For most parents, though, any amount of arsenic sounds like too much. Try feeding your children different types of grains or give them yogurt, avocados, cooked vegetables, or soft fruits in place of rice-based snacks.

Pesticides

We all know that pesticides are typically used for growing fresh produce, but many people probably believe that a quick rinse of water can get it off. However, many pesticides can actually penetrate the produce itself and make their way into your kids’ bellies no matter how much you wash them.

One particularly toxic pesticide, chlorpyrifos, is present on many fruits that young children eat often. “The testing that’s been done for residue finds it on apples, berries, melon (even on the inside), oranges, bananas—the kinds of fruits that are on the table for children,” says National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) senior scientist Miriam Rotkin-Ellman.

The Solution?

Though organic produce isn’t necessarily pesticide-free, organic farmers are only authorized to use pesticides that are plant- or mineral-based, or those that will naturally break down quickly.

For the safest produce, try to buy organic when you can and make you sure wash your produce thoroughly no matter what.

Antibiotics

Even though they’re only prescribed by doctors when absolutely necessary, many people are consuming antibiotics each and every day, maybe without even realizing it. Much of the meat we consume today contains antibiotics—growth hormones, too—given to animals as they grow to combat the growth of bacteria that can occur due to unsavory factory farming practices.

For farmers, it’s a good deal—with antibiotics they can pack more animals into smaller spaces without worrying about the spread of disease, and they can produce larger animals in a much shorter span of time with growth hormones. However, these substances remain in our meat even after it has hit our tables and can cause many different issues such as antibiotic resistance, cancer, and early puberty.

The Solution?

It’s not something that’s always possible for everyone, but families should definitely try to buy organic meats when they can. Grass-fed beef and dairy products are great choices, too—studies show that grass-fed beef actually contains more calcium, vitamins, and minerals than grain-fed.

If either of these options don’t fit into your budget, just look for labels that certify the meat is antibiotic- and growth hormone-free.

Processed Meats

Aside from the fact that processed meats are pretty much bound to contain antibiotic- and hormone-laced meats, they generally contain a slew of other things that are just plain bad for you.

Among meat that might come from questionable parts of various animals, things like hot dogs can also contain nitrites or nitrates, corn syrup, and “flavor.” Unfortunately, kids are the ones who end up eating things like this most often, and they can suffer because of it, too.

A study by the World Health Organization actually shows that eating a little less than two ounces of processed meat a day can increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer by up to 18 percent.

The Solution?

The obvious answer is to give children quality meat that you’ve cooked in your own kitchen, but there are a lot of parents who need a quick fix every now and then.

Don’t be afraid to reach for a hamburger or hotdog every now and then, but buy brands that use quality meat and minimal fillers.

Brominated Vegetable Oil

Did you ever think that you’d find oil in drinks? If your kids consume citrus-flavored sodas or sports drinks even occasionally, it’s something that they’re taking in more often than you think.

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is an ingredient that’s used to prevent the citrus flavor in these drinks from separating from the rest of the liquid. While that sounds innocent enough, give your kids too many sodas or sports drinks and they could end up with bromine toxicity, which can cause problems with the skin, memory, and nerves.

Consumption of products with BVO has actually been found to leave trace amounts of the substance in the fat within the brain and different organs. Fortunately, it is not used in too many products today.

The Solution?

That’s not to say that you won’t find it anywhere, though. It can still be found in the regular and diet versions of one particular neon-green soda—we’ll leave the guesswork up to you.

If you consume any citrus-flavored drinks on the regular, make sure to check the labels and maybe opt for something with a little less sugar in general.

Phthalates

While phthalates aren’t something you’ll find in your food, you could be packing your child’s lunch in them every day.

They’re a type of chemical often found in plastic that are considered to be endocrine-disrupting, meaning that they can disrupt your body’s normal hormone production, and children are especially susceptible. It’s common to find phthalates in higher-fat dairy products, as milk is often packaged in plastic, as well as transported in plastic tubing during processing and packaging.

The worst part is that even buying organic won’t help, because the standards that apply to organic products don’t necessarily apply to their packaging.

The Solution?

Because phthalates are often found in the fat within dairy products, you can always opt to buy lower-fat versions of your favorite products. This probably isn’t the best route, though, as low-fat products are usually more processed than their full-fat counterparts.

Instead, try to buy products that are packaged in glass when you can find them.

BPA

If you’ve walked through a grocery store lately, you’ve probably noticed that many of the cans and packages you see now boast that they are “BPA-free.”

BPA stands for bisphenol-A, which is a chemical that is often added to plastic and the lining of cans to make them stronger. Like phthalates, it is also known to disrupt hormone production and can leach into food pretty easily, especially canned foods.

It was once so prevalent that it was even found in bottles, plastic baby food containers, and sippy cups, though the FDA no longer allows these items to be made with plastic that contains BPA. It’s probably because even low levels of BPA in young bodies have been linked to delayed brain development, reproductive system damage, behavioral issues, and cancer.

The Solution?

Thankfully, manufacturers have made it pretty easy to ensure that you’re buying something in a BPA-free package—they’re now proud to put the claim right on the label.

For items packed in cans or plastic, make sure you can see that you’re buying a BPA-free product. When you can, try to buy products packed in glass.

Aspartame

Whether it’s for themselves or their children, most parents tend to think that an ar
tificial sweetener is better than a ton of real sugar. After all, you get the same sweet taste with none of the harmful side effects of sugar, right? Not so much.

For one thing, even though aspartame isn’t real sugar, its sweet taste only helps to keep your sweet tooth alive, and it’ll keep your body craving sugar. Not only that, but tests performed on both humans and animals strongly suggest that aspartame may be linked to cancer development.

The Solution?

In general, it’s a good idea to try to cut down on all sweet treats, whether they’re sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners. When you or kids have the occasional treat, however, stick to things that are sweetened with real sugar.

Even better? Look out for items that are sweetened with things like honey or maple syrup instead—in moderation still, of course.

Tags 50018906, fuel, hemingway