You’ve probably already realized how important getting enough sleep is for your baby’s mood, but your baby’s sleeping position is also extremely important. So, is it safe to allow your baby to sleep on one side?
The short answer is no. While it might seem harmless, side-sleeping puts your infant at greater risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the unexplained death of a seemingly healthy infant. SIDS usually occurs during sleep, and is the leading cause of death for babies under the age of one.
Aside from SIDS, side-sleeping can lead to several other health issues, ranging in severity from from benign to life threatening.
On the less severe end, side-sleeping can lead to harlequin color change. Also known as unilateral erythema, this condition causes one side of the sleeping infant’s body to turn pink or red. Unilateral erythema is harmless and will go away on its own, but experts remain unsure of its exact cause.
Side-sleeping can also put your child at risk for plagiocephaly, more commonly called flathead. This condition occurs when your baby’s head is placed in a single position repeatedly or for a long period of time. Because your baby’s skull is still soft and malleable, the sustained pressure from a crib mattress, for example, can cause the affected point to flatten or become concave.
Depending on the severity of the condition, doctors may recommend using a head brace or simply repositioning your baby for sleep. If left untreated, however, the condition can stunt brain growth and impair baby’s cognitive abilities later in life.
Most seriously, side-sleeping can put your baby at risk of choking. Sleeping on the side can cause your baby’s trachea (windpipe) to twist, making it more difficult for them to breathe. Equally seriously, it can cause regurgitated food to accumulate around your baby’s windpipe, inhibiting breathing.
So, how do you prevent your baby from side-sleeping?
If you notice your baby sleeping on their side, there are several relatively simple ways to solve the problem.
First, simply place your baby on their back when it’s time to sleep. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the back position is the best for preventing dangerous medical conditions, including SIDS.
Second, don’t put any unnecessary support structures in your baby’s crib. Pillows and crib bumpers can cause your infant to roll onto their side while sleeping. The same goes for sleep positioners and wedges. In fact, sleep positioners have even been proven to increase the risk of suffocation.
Third, don’t swaddle your child before sleep. Because swaddling bundles baby into a smooth, round shape, it increases their risk rolling onto their side. Swaddling has also been linked to an increased risk of SIDS.
When can your baby start sleeping on their side?
Doctors advise that you put your baby to sleep on their back until they’re 12 months old.
By the time they’ve reached this age, your child’s esophagus and trachea are well developed enough to reduce risk of respiratory problems associated with side-sleeping in infants.
Marcus Terentius Varro, an ancient Roman scholar, may not have known about modern germ theory, but he knew that “certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, but which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and cause serious diseases” existed. Those “minute creatures” sound a lot like germs, right?
When it came to health care, ancient Romans understood that preventing disease from spreading in the first place was the key to a healthy population and necessary to maintaining the large armies of the Roman Empire.
The ancient Romans may have been ahead of their time when it came to public health measures, but when it came to actual medical treatment, they believed some pretty weird stuff.
We might find these medical treatments strange by today’s standards, but ancient Roman physicians were a pretty forward-thinking group and paved the way for today’s modern healthcare.
Get him to the Greek…doctor, that is.
Early Roman medicine was heavily influenced by Greek medical practitioners. The Greeks were a little more surgery-happy than the Romans, who believed in a gentler, more holistic medical approach.
This was largely because Roman physicians were forbidden to dissect human subjects for the sake of learning. If they did get to study a human patient, it was usually a Roman soldier who’d been injured on the battlefield.
Galen of Pergamon, one of the most influential Roman physicians, dissected monkeys, believing them to be most closely related to people, and realized that the heart, brain, and nervous system all worked together within the body.
Greek doctors had no such qualms about dissecting human remains. The first Greek doctor to make his way to Rome was Archagathus of Sparta (try saying that name five times fast).
Archagathus was welcomed by Caesar and opened what might be the first surgical center in history in ancient Rome, primarily performing wound care on Roman soldiers.
Perhaps because they were crowding in on their livelihoods, Roman doctors were skeptical of Greek physicians like Archagathus. Pliny the Elder, in particular, seemed to harbor sour grapes, calling his rival “an executioner” rather than a surgeon.
Support the troops.
Taking a cue from the Greeks, Romans eventually did begin to incorporate surgery into medical practice, particularly in the military. Ancient Romans were extremely sophisticated but also brutal. They understood that to maintain their dominance, they needed a military in peak fighting condition.
Romans really revolutionized military medicine with the creation of valetudinaria, or temporary hospitals, for sick and injured soldiers. According to Robb Wesselingh writing for the Journal of Military and Veteran’s Health, “the development of the v
aletudinarium … represents the greatest contribution of the military to Roman healthcare.”
These temporary military hospitals were so successful that permanent hospitals were built all over the Roman Empire. Wesselingh continues:
“The first priority for these hospitals was sanitation. Location of the building with access to clean water and adequate sewerage was planned to the finest detail. Military practicality had done away with the superstition of civilian medicine. Understanding the causes of infection, the medici used isolation rooms with running water, obtaining this water from sources upstream of the latrines.”
At first these permanent hospitals were exclusively used by the military. Because of their success they were quickly adopted by civilian society, most of whom previously considered medical care to be a private family matter administered by the head of each household.
Feeling melancholy? Balance your bile.
Greek doctors—understandably unpopular due to their penchant for putting patients under the knife—also adopted gentler Roman medical recommendations, like naps and spa days.
Romans eventually did begin to adopt Greek medical practices as well. By the fifth century, the famous Greek physician Hippocrates’ theory of the four humors was practiced throughout the Roman Empire and remained popular across Europe for the next 1500 years.
The humors—black bile, yellow bile, blood, and my personal favorite, phlegm—were thought to control the body. When the humors were out of balance, an individual could become ill. It was only by balancing the humors that wellness was restored.
The famous Roman physician Galen expanded on Hippocrates’ theory and asserted that not only did the humors balance the body, but they determined our mental state as well.
Galen created what some consider the original personality test, which concluded that each humor corresponded to a particular mood: Black bile meant melancholic; yellow bile, irritable; blood, sanguine; phlegm, phlegmatic or laid back.
Galen’s expansion of Hippocrates’ theories about the four humors showed the ultimate meshing of Roman and Greek medical practices and a movement away from the supernatural toward a more scientific approach to healing.
A Roman Cure for What Ails You
Although they were becoming less rooted in the supernatural, some Roman medical treatments were downright bizarre. Roman doctors recommended that patients put a slab of crocodile meat on stubborn acne spots. For epilepsy, if all else failed, patients were advised to eat a dried camel’s brain soaked in vinegar. Yuck.
Despite their wandering wombs, women must have been downright magical during that time of the month. To cure gout, a disease in which joints become painful and inflamed, Romans recommended simply touching a woman during her monthly cycle. For headaches, doctors recommended a liniment made of menstrual blood–soaked cloth and rose oil applied to the temples.
After Hippocrates introduced the humors to the Romans, they began to practice bloodletting, a practice in which blood—often pints at a time—was drained from the body to restore balance. Unsurprisingly, this did more harm than good to people who were sick already, but the practice remained popular until the 19th century.
Each humor was also tied to an element and a season, which dictated illnesses when the body was out of balance. Galen, in particular
, was fond of applying opposites as a remedy. When a patient had a fever caused by an excess of yellow bile humor (considered to be naturally hot and dry), Galen recommended cold cucumbers as treatment.
Other Roman medical treatments, however, weren’t so crazy. Most relied heavily on herbs that were available at the time, like parsley and hibiscus, and many of these herbs did have true medicinal healing qualities.
While he was wrong about cucumbers bringing down fever, Galen was correct about garlic, which doesn’t just keep vampires at bay. Garlic has many medicinal properties, including reducing inflammation.
Other herbal remedies that worked included marshmallow root and horehound for cough, tarragon to fight fatigue, and yarrow root as a natural antiseptic. Cato the Elder, a Roman scholar, prescribed cabbage for constipation. Considering that cabbage contains almost a gram of fiber per leaf, Cato was definitely onto something.
In ancient Roman fashion, the Romans took medical knowledge learned from the Greeks and applied it with military precision to their own health practices. While they were completely off-base about some things—we’ll skip the Romans’ headache cure and just take ibuprofen instead—they really were advanced in their views on public health. So the next time you visit a hospital, you can thank the ancient Romans.
Kristin McEwen knows a thing or two about gym etiquette.
She’s vice-president of YMCA of Metro Atlanta (Georgia), and she’s seen it all. People walk into the gym in skimpy outfits, cell phones blaring. They forget to change their stinky old workout clothes. Worst of all, McEwen toldCNN, they sweat all over the machines—and don’t lift a finger to clean the equipment.
“We’ll have people who come in, and they will sweat profusely, and they will leave puddles around the equipment,” McEwen said. Anyone would agree with her final comment on the situation.
“It’s gross,” she said.
Surely, no one should have to deal with rude and clueless people while working out. Even if the rules of the gym remain unspoken, most people know them instinctively.
So don’t be “that person.” You know the one. They don’t re-rack their weights, or they engage in a full-on screaming phone conversation while walking on the treadmill at 0.01 mph. Use this list to brush up on rules for the gym so you can help ensure working out is just a little more tolerable for yourself and everyone else.
1. Do not disturb.
When someone has headphones on, leave them alone. This may seem obvious, but some people haven’t figured it out, at least not in our experience. People use music or podcasts to help them focus and get in the zone for their workout, and when another person insists on attempting a conversation, it’s terribly distracting.
2. Get swol, not sick.
Infections spread easily in the public gym setting. It’s incredibly important to wash your hands before using any equipment.
Also, wipe the machines down as soon as you’re finished. If you’re worried about the cleanliness of your gym, wipe machines down before you use them too and let an employee know about any…issues.
3. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
The squat rack mirror is not the place to touch up your makeup, pose for multiple selfies, or perfect your flex.
The mirrors placed around a gym are meant to check form and for safety. They aren’t there for you to check yourself out.
4. Where did the weights go?
Don’t make people search the entire gym for weights or barbells. The gym is a public place, and everyone has the right to easily locate and use the equipment. When bars or weights don’t end up back their rightful places, it isn’t fair to others.
5. Clean up after yourself.
Crushing a 300-pound squat set is impressive, but you aren’t finished after the last rep is completed. Whenever you add weight to any of the equipment, you must remove it when you’re finished. Bars that do not get cleared will start to warp over time, eventually rendering them unusable. Plus, it’s common courtesy. If you can put 300 pounds on the bar, you can take it off.
6. Leave the cool moves on the dance floor.
Unless you’re doing serious interval training, there’s no reason to bust out any moves on the treadmill. You’re risking serious injury when you crank the speed up and try to hop on and off.
Leave those kinds of stunts to the professionals.
7. Contain yourself.
Bringing a towel, a water bottle, and your phone into the gym is perfectly acceptable—just don’t leave these items strewn around. It’s a total faux pas to save machines with personal items. Plus, cluttering up a space other people are using isn’t cool.
8. Hygiene is important.
There’s no way around getting sweaty during a good workout. However, it’s important to make sure your hygiene is on point before stepping foot in the gym. Be sure to wash your workout clothes frequently and, please, wear deodorant!
Also, don’t forget McEwen’s sweat-puddle horror story. Pack a towel and use it to sop up the puddles of sweat that prove your workout is working.
Ah cooking, so necessary for life and yet so easily messed up. Who among us hasn’t tried to save money and up our health game at home only to discover that cooking isn’t as easy as it looks on YouTube. (Reality check: Is anything ever as easy as it looks on TV? No, no it is not.) That doesn’t mean you should give up on your culinary dreams or settle for repeat dinners of plain chicken and rice, though. The internet to the rescue! The web is rife with cooking tips—you’ve probably read tons of basic articles explaining how to use frozen bananas in smoothies or cook bacon in the oven—so we talked to professional chefs to get the tips you probably don’t know. Prepare to have your mind blown.
Make speedy guacamole
Alex Zivatar
Guac is a staple at barbecues, on tacos, and eating off a spoon for a late-night snack. (Hey, we don’t judge!) But there is one serious downside to the healthy dish: prepping it is a slimy, green pain. Speed up your avocado prep by smashing the ripe fruit through gridded cooling racks—think the kind you put cookies on. “It gets the job done in a fraction of the time it takes to scoop and mash avocado the traditional way,” says Olivia Colt, chef, and owner of Salt & Honey Catering + Events in Berkeley, California.
Take the mess out of eating seafood
Lobster, shrimp, crab, mussels, and clams are all a great source of healthy protein. They’re also all a great source of smashed fingers and lemon-juice covered cuts if you’re not careful. But there’s an easier way to have your lobster and eat it too says, Richard Vellante, Executive Chef at Legal Sea Foods in Boston, Massachusetts.
Take a wine bottle (you know you’ve got one on the table anyhow!) and roll it over the lobster parts. It will break up the shell, allowing you to get every last bite of the sweet meat out. If you’re having clams, he recommends going full cavewoman and using rocks to break open shells. They work better and are less expensive than special tools. Lastly, he says to use an empty mussels shell like tweezers to pick out the meat from other mussels if you are eating a steamed mussel dish.
Mix without the mess
Anyone who’s ever got a little too enthusiastic with their stirring knows how quickly it can go from “Oh, look, my egg yolks are getting creamy!” to “Oh, look, my kitchen is tie-dyed!”
Fix this chronic dilemma with a common kitchen item: A towel. “Roll a moist kitchen towel and shape into a circle for the base of a bowl on the counter, and it will prevent it from sliding when you are whisking something in it,” Valente says. Genius!
Stop chopping garlic
Eating garlic is delicious! Peeling, chopping and dicing garlic is… not fun! Not to mention it makes your fingers smell like old Italian food for the next week.
Simply your garlic-infused recipes with this one simple swap, courtesy of Vellante. “Just buy a zester,” he says. “Instead of chopping fresh garlic, just zest it into a dish.” If you’re worried about flavor transfer between your scampi and your lemon creme pie, by a separate zester just for garlic and label it with a Sharpie.
Tired of peeling garlic by hand too? Try this hack to make separating garlic cloves a breeze– plus learn how to cut onions and peel eggs the easy way!
Prep like a chef
Alex Zivatar
Forget the fancy knives or elaborate recipes, when it comes to cooking efficiently seasoned chefs have one rule they swear by. Called “mise en place”—a French term that you don’t have to be able to say to use—simply means having all your ingredients prepped, measured and within arms-length before you start cooking. “Making sure you have everything you need prior to starting a big project in the kitchen takes out the guess work and allows you to focus on what you’re creating,” says Shane Graybeal, the Executive Chef at Sable Kitchen & Bar in Chicago. “Ultimately it makes cooking less stressful and more fun. And you know you won’t forget that one crucial ingredient.”
Grow your own spices
Fresh herbs and spices are one of the things that make restaurant food taste so much better yet many home cooks feel like they’re too costly or time consuming to use every day. The simple solution? Grow your own!
The quality is so much better and it will give a fresh, professional flavor to your dishes for mere pennies, Graybeal says. Plus, little pots of fresh herbs—think basil, oregano, thyme, and mint—make beautiful kitchen decorations and are harder to kill than you think. (No green thumb required!)
Hack your butter
Warm chocolate chip cookies are one of life’s greatest pleasures but they’re not all created equal. But instead of searching endlessly for the “perfect” recipe or signing up for emails to get the “$1,000 secret Neiman Marcus recipe” (hint: that’s not a real thing, it’s basically Betty Crocker), there’s an easy way to make any cookie recipe taste professional: Amp up your butter. People think butter is butter but it’s not, explains Jill Galera, the Director of Catering at The Grand Hotel Minneapolis. “I use European butter, like Kerry Gold or Plugra. The fat content is higher and makes cookies (and everything else) taste more decadent.”
Peel tomatoes in a flash
Alex Zivatar
Peeled tomatoes are the base of many a delicious sauce but they’re also—what’s the technical term?—a massive pain in the butt. If you think peeling an apple is time-consuming, try peeling a tomato. But don’t give up on your favorite fresh marinara yet, Chef Dennis Friedman of the award-winning restaurant Shouk has a pro tip. Start by making a small “x” on the top of the tomatoes with a paring knife, cutting just through the skin. Drop the tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for ten seconds and then put them directly into ice water for five minutes. “The boiling water will loosen the skin, making them super easy to peel,” he assures.
Grate your butter instead of spreading it
Make buttered biscuits, garlic bread, rolls or other baked goods characterized by their buttery glaze even faster with this super simple kitchen hack from Natalia Levey, a certified nutritional chef, and founder of Healthy Intent. Use a cheese grater to grate cold butter to evenly distribute it over your baked goods. It’s faster and easier to control than a butter knife.
Don’t thaw your frozen veggies
Frozen vegetables get a bad rap for being mushy and bland but they (and you) don’t have to suffer this fate. The trick is to not thaw them before you use them in a recipe. Simply add them—still frozen!—to hot pasta, grains, or soups. “This helps to both flash-cook the veggies and quickly cool off the rest of the dish,” says Melissa Eboli, personal chef and certified nutritional chef. “The vegetables are essentially blanched so they are still crisp, and hold most of their nutrient density. It’s a healthy trick and a time saver too.”
No more sticky situations
Got a mad craving for peanut butter cookies? (Same, girl, same.) Avoid a sticky situation with this trick from Ruthy Kirwan, founder of Percolate Kitchen.
“When measuring peanut butter, honey, or other sticky things, lightly spray your measuring spoon or cup with cooking oil,” she explains. “It helps the ingredient slide right out and you’ll get a more accurate measure.”
Peel garlic with a plate
For something so little, garlic can sure cause a lot of drama in the kitchen—especially when it comes to prepping fresh garlic. The first step is always peeling off the sticky, papery coating… which is often enough to send people running for the expensive jars of pre-chopped. Before you do that, however, Kirwan is here to save your wallet and your fingers: “When peeling large amounts of garlic, place the whole cloves in a small bowl and cover with a plate. Shake the heck out of the bowl; when you remove the plate, the paper will have come off the cloves! No more peeling with your nails and fingers,” she says.
Use your slow cookers to do some fast cooking
Alex Zivatar
Slow cookers are great for more than just cooking stuff slowly. Most models have a “high” or “sautee” setting, allowing you to skip a step or three in your recipe and cook everything in one pot, says Scott Leysath, the Sporting Chef and host of the TV show of the same name. “Set it to ‘high’ first and then use it to brown your meats to seal in flavor and make them more tender,” he explains. To take your humble Crock-Pot meal truly next level, he adds you can then use wine to deglaze the bottom (that just means pouring it into the bottom of the pot and scraping the browned bits stuck to the bottom into it) to add another level of flavor to your dish.
Chop cherry tomatoes in a flash
Halved cherry tomatoes are the perfect garnish for salads, pasta, and sandwiches but cutting the tiny, slippery balls can have you chasing them all over the kitchen—and cleaning squirted seeds off your cute top.
Avoid the mess and the hassle by using two plastic lids, says Mike Ledesema, Executive Chef of Kabana Rooftop in Richmond, Virginia. Simply sandwich the tomatoes (yes all of them!) between the lids and run a sharp, large chef’s knife through them horizontally, cutting between the lids. Poof, halved tomatoes in ten seconds!
Check out how to do it, plus a few other veggie chopping hacks, in the video below!
Make vegetable dishes sing with this sneaky trick
Let’s face it: We could all stand to have a few more veggies on our plates. Yet when it comes to flavor, many feel vegetables just aren’t as satisfying. Thankfully there are ways to trick to your taste buds, infusing veggie dishes with a savory umami flavor that will have even the pickiest eaters asking for more.
“Whenever I make a vegetable soup or dressing or even grill vegetables, I always use two tricks to bring out ‘meaty’ flavors,” says Justin Cucci, executive chef and owner of Root Down, Vital Root, Linger, Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox and El Five in Denver, Colorado. “First is replacing some or all of the salt with soy sauce as it has a richer flavor. Second, I like adding a small amount of chipotle spice—it evokes the smoky-sweet goodness of bacon.”
I scream, you scream, we all scream in pain when we get brain freeze. We all know the horrible feeling of eating ice cream too fast. Your mouth goes numb, then a wave of pain stretches across your head. But what’s really happening to our bodies during a brain freeze?
Our Bodies vs. Frozen Treats
The roofs of our mouths are full of blood vessels, capillaries, and nerve fibers that detect pain. When we eat ice cream or any kind of very cold food or drink, the blood vessels and capillaries in our palates constrict. Eat these types of treats too quickly, or on an especially warm day, and the constriction of the vessels occurs so suddenly that the nerve fibers register pain.
The trigeminal nerve (one of the major facial nerves) then sends the pain message straight to the brain. The brain processes that something painful is happening but can’t tell exactly where, so the sensation registers across the face. Eventually, we experience the pain in the form of a sudden-onset headache.
Help us, science.
It’s taken a lot of time and research for scientists to figure out this phenomenon. A study published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology’s (FASEB) journal explains it all.
Researchers recruited 13 volunteers and asked them to sip ice-cold water through a straw. Then they monitored the blood flow in the subjects’ brains. During the study, subjects raised their hands when they began to feel the effects of brain freeze.
Researchers noticed an increase in blood flow to the anterior cerebral artery while the brain freeze occurred. Scientists believe this excess blood flow is part of a temperature regulatory system in place to keep the brain functioning in a warm environment despite extreme cold. The increased blood flow builds pressure in the skull, resulting in a headache.
“The brain is one of the relatively important organs in the body, and it needs to be working all the time. It’s fairly sensitive to temperature,” wrote researchers. “So vasodilation might be moving warm blood inside tissue to make sure the brain stays warm.”
Have no fear—there is a cure. You can press your tongue to the roof of your mouth, drink something warm, or simply wait a few minutes for the artery to return to normal on its own.
Brain freeze is actually helpful.
This new information is helping scientists better understand the physiology of headaches and migraines, hopefully leading to more effective treatments.
“We can’t easily give people migraines or a cluster headache, but we can easily induce brain freeze without any long-term problems,” wrote Dr. Dwayne Godwin, a neuroscientist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. “We can learn something about headache mechanisms and extend that to our understanding to develop better treatments for patients.”
The research published in The FASEB Journal has already found that migraine sufferers are more likely to experience brain freeze than those who never have migraines. Hopefully, research like this will help doctors better treat the pain migraine sufferers deal with on a regular basis. The irony is pretty sweet when you think about it: A painful-but-temporary headache could lead to a cure for horrible chronic migraines.
Take out your smartphone and scroll through your photos.
We’ll wait. Notice anything?
If you’re seeing dozens of pictures of yourself, you’re a selfie addict, and we’re sorry to break it to you, but that’s not such a good thing. In recent years, researchers have carried out several selfie-centric studies, and for the most part, the results aren’t great for selfie aficionados.
For starters, nobody wants to see them.
In a study titled “The Selfie Paradox,” researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, shed light on the “contradictory phenomenon of selfies and their psychological value.”
The researchers, Sarah Diefenback and Lara Christoforakos, examined how people who take selfies are perceived by themselves and their peers.
“Taking, posting, and viewing selfies has become a daily habit for many,” they acknowledged in the study’s abstract. At the same time, research revealed that selfies often evoke criticism and disrespect and are associated with non-authenticity and narcissism.
Diefenback and Christoforakos found that people view selfie-takers as “narcissistic” but judge their own selfies as “more authentic and self-ironic.”
To put it another way, while you might think that you’re being clever and mocking the whole selfie trend, other people will see your photo for what it likely is: a typical selfie. All this makes for a strange paradox, since nobody seems to like selfies, but most of us keep posting them.
“Taking peoples’ statements literally, selfies should have never become as popular as they actually are,” the researchers wrote.
Not only that, but selfie viewing might harm your self-esteem.
Two graduate students at Penn State University studied the psychological effects of selfie viewing.
As the researchers noted, “neither selfie nor groupie posting behavior was associated with self-esteem or life satisfaction.” In other words, posting pictures online—whether they’re selfies or groupies—doesn’t indicate anything particular about your self-esteem or life satisfaction.
If you’re still addicted to taking selfies, though, we’ve got a bit of good news.
Scientists have also been working to figure out how to take the perfect selfie. A study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology asked 172 people to rate 14 faces shown from different perspectives.
Researchers Tobias M. Schneider and Claus-Christian Carbon found that camera positioning plays a big role in our perception. The faces rated most attractive appeared to be tilted to the right by about 15 degrees. When participants viewed faces tilted 30 or more degrees to the left, they were more likely to rate the photos as sympathetic and intelligent.
That means that if you want to take an attractive photo, show more of the right side of your face. If you’re trying to take a selfie to show how smart you are, show more of your left side.
However, the researchers noted that their results are far from conclusive—and that’s really the case with all of these selfie studies.
“Taking selfies is now becoming a standard human habit,” wrote Schneider and Carbon in their selfie study. “However, as a social phenomenon, research is still in the fledgling stage and the scientific framework is sparse.”
Homemade pancakes are the perfect start to any morning. You can’t go wrong, whether you prefer traditional flapjacks or like to get creative with the toppings. But box pancake mixes can get stale or go bad even before you even open the package. Plus, traditional pancake mixes and recipes are loaded with sugar and sodium. The solution?
Why not make your own?
We get it; making pancakes from scratch sounds like way more work than the traditional just-add-water mixes you can buy at your local market. But once you taste just one of our four healthy pancake recipes, you won’t mind the extra five minutes of work.
Thinking of giving one of these a try? Check out the recipes below!
Savory Chickpea Avocado Pancakes
The avocado trend shows no sign of slowing down, and we’re okay with that. Avocados are chock full of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, and contain healthy monounsaturated fatty acids. Chickpea flour is high in iron, protein, and fiber, and it’s gluten-free too! But you won’t even have time to consider how healthy these savory pancakes are once you taste them.
Ingredients
Pancakes:
1 cup chickpea flour 1 cup coconut milk ½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt ¼ cup chopped green onion ¼ cup chopped orange bell pepper ¼ tsp cumin ¼ tsp garlic powder
Topping:
1 avocado ¼ cup coconut yogurt ½ tsp garlic powder 1 tsp lime juice Cilantro to taste
Instructions
1. Combine chickpea flour, baking powder, salt, cumin, and garlic powder in a large bowl. Add coconut milk to the dry mixture and whisk until smooth. 2. Mix in chopped green onion and orange bell pepper. 3. Spoon mixture in ½ cup increments into a non-stick frying pan and spread to cover the bottom. Cook on medium heat until the edges start to brown and curl up. Flip to cook through. 4. For the topping, core and place half the avocado in a blender, along with yogurt, garlic powder, and lime juice. Blend just until smooth. 5. Top with slices from the other half of the avocado and cilantro to taste. Drizzle with avocado cream sauce.
Dragon Fruit Pancakes
Dragon fruit, also known as the pitaya fruit, is a great alternative to maple syrup and sugary compotes. Sweet and tangy, dragon fruits are loaded with antioxidants, B vitamins, and protein.
Ingredients
Pancakes:
1 cup flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda 1 egg 1 cup coconut milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp cinnamon 1 Tbsp coconut shreds 1 Tbsp maple syrup
Topping:
1 pink-fleshed dragon fruit 1 Tbsp maple syrup ¼ cup coconut yogurt
Instructions
1. Combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl and mix well 2. Add egg, coconut milk, and vanilla extract. 3. Mix in cinnamon, coconut, and maple syrup until well combined. 4. Spoon mixture in ¼ cup increments into a non-stick frying pan. Cook on medium heat until edges start to brown and bubbles appear on top. Flip and cook other side until cooked through. 5. For the topping, peel and chop the dragon fruit. Blend dragon fruit and yogurt together until combined. Add maple syrup and blend until smooth and runny. Drizzle over warm pancakes to serve.
Maple Butternut Pancakes
These maple butternut flapjacks are perfect for any autumn morning. Low in fat and high in fiber, the butternut squash purée accounts for the nutty flavor of these delicious pancakes.
Ingredients
Pancakes:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 2 eggs 1 ½ cups milk ½ cup butternut squash purée 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ tsp cinnamon 2 Tbsp maple syrup
Topping:
Oats Sage Maple syrup
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk until combined. 2. Add eggs, milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and maple syrup to dry ingredients. Whisk until smooth. 3. Spoon mixture in ¼ cup increments into a non-stick frying pan. Cook on medium heat until the edges start to brown and bubbles appear on top. Flip and cook other side until cooked through. 4. Top with oats and sage. Drizzle with warm maple syrup.
Ginger Carrot Pancakes
After one bite of these ginger carrot pancakes, you’ll swear you’re indulging in a slice of carrot cake. Sure, topping them with cream cheese icing may be offsetting the awesome health benefits of the shredded carrots, walnuts, and fresh ginger, but everyone deserves a treat once and a while right?
Ingredients
Pancakes:
1 cup whole wheat flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda 1 egg 1 ¼ cups milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp cinnamon 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger 2 Tbsp maple syrup Pinch of salt ¼ tsp allspice ¼ cup chopped walnuts 1 ½ cups shredded carrots
1. Combine shredded carrots, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and allspice in a large bowl. Mix well. 2. Add egg, milk, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Mix well until combined. 3. Fold in walnuts. Add freshly grated ginger and mix until combined. 4. Spoon mixture in ⅓ cup increments into a non-stick frying pan. Cook on medium heat until edges start to brown and bubbles appear on top. Flip and cook other side until cooked through. 5. Top with chopped walnuts, shredded carrots, shredded coconut, and warm cream cheese icing.
Ever since I learned I was expecting my first child, I have fallen into a pattern I swore I would avoid—I always put my needs last.
It isn’t really uncommon behavior for a mom, of course. It starts when we are first pregnant. We’re staring at the price tag of countless baby necessities—from the crib to the hundreds and hundreds of diapers we will use in their first year, and suddenly we start deciding our needs can be put aside.
Here’s what I’ve learned about putting your needs last—it doesn’t actually benefit your children in any way. You may feel like you are doing them a favor, but you know that tired cliché about putting on your oxygen mask first when the plane is going down? Well, it is completely true.
Trust me, I’ve put my needs last countless times only to discover it depletes my ability to care for my kids well.
So we’re challenging you to do things differently this time around. Quit ignoring your needs and wants and instead decide to take care of yourself during your pregnancy. Pregnancy is difficult enough as it is; moms don’t need to sacrifice unnecessarily and make things harder than they need to be.
Here are a few things pregnant moms can actually use, straight from expectant and new moms just like you.
A Morning Habit That Will Keep You and Baby Healthy
Taking a daily prenatal vitamin isn’t optional advice from your doctor, this little habit is important for keeping both you and your baby healthy. You’re growing a person!
So it makes sense that you might need a little extra help to keep your energy high and make sure both your and your baby’s needs are being met.
There are a lot of prenatals out there, so when you are picking one out, you will want to be sure it has a few basic ingredients. Vitamins A, C,
If you have exceptional dietary needs or you’re just plain confused about what vitamins are best for you, don’t be afraid to check in with your OB-GYN. Some doctors can offer recommendations, pass on coupons, or even prescribe a supplement so it will be covered by your insurance.
A Bedtime Necessity That Will Help You Stay Rested
For a lot of women, pregnancy insomnia starts early on. Getting as much rest as you can during pregnancy is crucial, especially as the third trimester draws near. Unfortunately, discomfort from pregnancy makes getting sleep a difficult task.
For some, a special pregnancy pillow can help, especially for those who sleep on their stomachs. Check out the Cozy Bump below:
As it turns out, for most moms the solution to tossing and turning while pre
gnant is a lot simpler than an expensive pregnancy pillow. Emma Shay, who is expecting her first, told HealthyWay she bought a pregnancy pillow but hated it. In the end, she settled on a good body pillow.
The perk of a good body pillow is that it can adjust to your needs. During your third trimester, you may need to prop yourself up in a nest of pillows so you can sleep upright to combat heartburn, or you might need a pillow behind your back to support the strain caused by your growing belly.
The Snuggle-Pedic Memory Foam Body Pillow is a popular choice for expectant moms, thanks to its “kool-flow” cover that fights overheating during the night.
These Supplements Could End Your Nausea.
Morning sickness during the first trimester may be common, but that doesn’t make it any easier for expectant moms. Whether you are dealing with occasional nausea or having trouble keeping down anything you eat, the first trimester just might be the hardest part of your pregnancy.
Betsy Larson, who is expecting her second child, swore by a combination of supplements recommended to her by her doctor.
“I took B12 and Unisom at night during my first trimester,” Larson said. “It really helps with nausea!”
Of course, before you start taking anything new during your pregnancy, you should check with your doctor. Once you have the all clear, you can buy both B12 and Unisom over the counter at your local pharmacy.
Say Goodbye to Your Cankles.
It’s true that many women experience swelling in the hands, legs, and feet during pregnancy, but ignoring swelling isn’t a great approach. For starters, swollen feet can be really uncomfortable, and any extreme swelling that seems to come out of nowhere could be a sign something else is going on.
Once you have checked in with your doctor and determined that what you are experiencing is just your run-of-the-mill pregnancy swelling, you’ll be more comfortable if you find a way to address your cankles and swollen toes.
“Compression stockings were a lifesaver,” mom of three Jayne Heinrich told me. “Especially when I was at work and on my feet all day.”
You can find pretty basic pregnancy compression stockingsDr. Leonard’s
on Amazon, and if your swelling is really giving you trouble, your doctor may be able to recommend medical-grade stockings to make life more bearable while you wait for Baby’s arrival.
Fight off Stretch Marks One Massage at a Time.
As your baby grows, so will your belly, stretching your skin unlike it has ever been stretched before. Rapid growth can create stretch marks in many women. In some cases they’re genetic and unavoidable, but in many instances there are things you can do to keep them from becoming too extreme.
With the number of products on the market bragging about their ability to keep stretch marks at bay, it’s hard to know which creams are worth the money.
The secret to avoiding stretch marks is all about vitamin E, which helps the skin stay elastic so it can adapt to all of that growth. And even if you are genetically prone to stretch marks, a good lotion or cream will also help you keep your skin from getting itchy around those marks.
Accommodate Your Growing Belly Without Breaking the Bank.
One little-known secret of pregnancy is just how expensive maternity clothes can be. It seems like the clothes made for expectant moms are the only items that never go on sale—and at their regular price, they’re significantly pricier than conventional items.
Buying a whole new wardrobe during pregnancy simply isn’t affordable for a lot of moms, and that’s why this product really rocks. The Bellaband by Ingrid & Isabel is a thick elastic band you can slide over your unbuttoned jeans.
With the help of this band, you might be able to wear your pre-pregnancy jeans throughout your pregnancy, so all you need to purchase are some cute maternity tops and a comfy pair of sweatpants.
A Little Extra Love for Your Aching Feet
As the end of your pregnancy draws near, you’re going to notice just how sore your feet are and how hard it is to bend over and lace up your shoes. Make getting dressed in the morning a little easier with a couple of pairs of comfortable slip-on shoes.
During the colder months, a lot of moms love these ballet flats made specifically for pregnancy. They slip right on and have an aloe-infused insole for extra comfort. There are also summer options, like this cute wedge sandal. Of course, when the last weeks of your pregnancy roll around, you just might have to break out bigger shoes depending on how much swelling you experience.
“I had to straight up buy a pair of men’s flip flops by the end of my summer pregnancy,” mom Jessica Hoffman confessed.
Here’s hoping this list of pregnancy essentials will inspire you to take care of your changing body. It’s your baby’s home for more than nine months, and when your new little one arrives, it will provide the nutrition and comfort they need to thrive.
Do yourself and your baby a favor and make getting rest and staying healthy your number one priority.
For me, giving birth to each of my three children has been a jarring and disruptive experience. I carried them around inside of my body for more than nine months and then suddenly, over the course of 10 hours or so of labor, we became two separate people.
At least that’s how it felt—that when I celebrated the birth of my children, I also let go of another season of our life together, our amazing interdependence. Even so, I have always felt that my babies are still a part of me.
Whenever I pull my infant in close to my chest to nurse, I chase down my toddler to smother her in kisses, or I snuggle my preschooler in close to read books before bed, I know we are still connected to one another.
I have always assumed the mother–child bond I was experiencing was just an emotional connection. But recent research has provided an explanation for a deeper connection between mother and child. During pregnancy the growing fetus has a lasting impact on the mother’s body.
The placenta, which has long been known to provide essentials to the growing baby, also serves as an avenue for transfer of fetal cells into the mother’s body, according to Smithsonian magazine.
Over time, the mother’s immune system gets rid of many of those cells, but some adapt to the mother’s body in a way that allows them to fly under the radar and remain inside of her for years to come.
Amazing, isn’t it? The grade-schooler who sits across from you at the table or the baby you said a difficult goodbye to early in your pregnancy could still be influencing your cellular makeup today.
Of course, research has a ways to go before we can figure out the exact implications of how fetal cells manipulate their mother’s body. We certainly have made a lot of progress in recent years in our quest to explain why humans do the things we do.
More than ever, we can observe specific parenting behaviors and point to an explanation for these habits. In short, science can explain why you parent the way you do.
Here’s why so many moms hold their baby the same way.
Have you ever noticed that most moms hoist their baby onto their left hip and hold them there, instead of switching from side to side?
This isn’t merely a coincidence. This habit of holding a baby on your left side is observed in a large percentage of human mothers and even in other mammals, according to the journal Developmental Science.
Left-cradling bias, as this behavior is called, is believed to be explained by the way humans process social and emotional interactions, according to the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. Some of the functions performed by the brain are worked out in one hemisphere or the other; this is called lateralization.
Specifically relevant to left-cradling bias is that fact that the right hemisphere of the brain, which receives information from the left side of the body, is the dominant location for processing emotional and social experiences.
To put it simply—when Mom holds Baby on her left side, she is more adept at interpreting their emotional cues. Scientists don’t believe this is coincidence. Instead they are confident this is an evolutionary behavior adopted by mothers whose main priority early on is meeting their child’s emotional and physical needs.
Here’s why you scrubbed your kitchen floor when you were nine months pregnant.
At the end of each of my pregnancies, I found myself obsessing over the most seemingly insignificant things. With my second baby, for instance, I spent two weeks searching our home from top to bottom, intent on finding handful of missing pieces from my toddler’s puzzle collection.
When I neared the end of my third pregnancy, I grew fixated on keeping laundry going non-stop because I was determined I wouldn’t have dirty laundry in the house when the baby was born.
These kinds of behaviors are so common among expectant mothers, we joke about with our pregnant friends. We typically assume a mother who is cleaning, organizing, or cooking is getting ready to give birth.
This phenomenon, called nesting, isn’t simply a social norm or an old wives’ tale. There is actually a scientific explanation for why women adopt nesting behaviors near the end of their pregnancies, according to the journal Evolution & Human Behavior. It’s all about controlling the environment the baby will be born into.
Anthropologists report that this behavior was observed in our ancestors and is now repeated by modern mothers. Nesting tends to peak during the third trimester, when expectant mothers focus their energy on creating a safe environment for their new child.
Women don’t just reorganize their belongings; they tend to focus some of their energy on their relationships too. According to this study, expectant mothers are driven to consider whom they want near their child after birth, too.
A natural desire to protect their baby from unknown dangers or foreign pathogens compels an unconscious drive to steer clear of strangers during late pregnancy.
Here’s why you turn into a hermit right before birth.
At the end of a pregnancy, it is fairly typical for expectant moms to feel compelled to hunker down and stay home until the arrival of their new baby.
Turning into a hermit during the third trimester isn’t just because it is too much work to get your aching and swollen body off the couch. There is an evolutionary explanation for why women turn into homebodies late in their pregnancies.
It seems that in pregnant women there is an innate knowledge that home is the safest place to be. Research suggests that pregnant women prefer to stay home because they know it is the most comfortable place to give birth and likely to be the most danger free place for a vulnerable newborn.
This is an evolutionary behavior and is believed to have been passed down from ancestors who had more immediate dangers in the environment surrounding their homes, according to Evolution & Human Behavior.
Here’s why you like cute babies so much.
There’s no denying it: Human beings have a strong preference for really cute babies. When it comes to what is and isn’t considered cute, there are some objective principles that influence this preference.
There are perks to being cute, too. As embarrassing as it may be to acknowledge, both men and women tend to show preferential treatment to cute kids. Don’t beat yourself up too much; there is an evolutionary explanation for such favoritism.
The same characteristics that are commonly assoc
iated with cuteness in babies have also been associated with a perception of overall well-being. So the belief is that the preference for cute babies is really just a byproduct of preferring and promoting the growth of babies who appear to have a survival advantage over less-cute babies.
We might not realize it at the time, but it seems that a lot of the automatic behaviors we engage in as mothers are all about survival of our children and our family line.
From the way we hold our babies to that irresistible urge to straighten the linen closet for the tenth time in a week, we’re just following an unconscious drive set in motion long before our own mothers were expecting our arrival.
You may feel like you just figured out how to successfully breastfeed, and suddenly it’s time to introduce your baby to solid foods already. Deciding what to feed your little ones can be tough for new parents.
While your baby’s first meal probably shouldn’t be a ribeye steak and potatoes, you might be surprised by what real nutritionists feed their babies and toddlers.
Introducing Solids for the First Time
When your baby shows more interest in what’s on your plate than in their bottle (or your breast)—usually when they’re between 4 to 6 months old—they’re probably ready to start solids. Dietitian Katherine Baqleh recommends that parents “start with a few mouthfuls one to two times a day after breastfeeds then increase it.”
Baqleh continues, food “textures should move from puréed to lumpy to normal by 12 months.”
It’s good to start with bland foods, like fortified cereal mixed with breast milk or formula to get your baby acclimated to solids, but you can move on to real solids pretty quickly.
After that, you can start introducing a wider variety of foods, which should contain lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates for a well-rounded meal.
Foods for Babies Over 6 Months
When introducing your baby to real foods, there are a few guidelines to follow. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology recommends introducing “highly allergenic foods to your baby after other solid foods have been fed and tolerated, and with the first taste being at home. If no reaction occurs, then you can gradually increase the amount at a rate of one new food every 3 to 5 days.”
Always make sure foods are small, soft, and cut into tiny pieces to prevent choking. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests bananas or scrambled eggs.
Other good foods to start baby out on include: Salmon and Peas
Nutritionist Sara Doll says “broiled salmon and peas are great for babies just starting to feed themselves.” Both salmon and peas are soft and easy to swallow.
Salmon is a great source of lean protein and healthy fat, and peas are a great source of fiber and iron, which breastfed babies may start to get low on at around 6 months. Lentils Natalia Stasenka, a registered dietitian, says “beans and lentils are a stellar source of protein, iron, folate, zinc and manganese for the whole family, including baby.”
Just make sure to soak the beans overnight until they are very soft, and either puree or mash before feeding to baby. All the Squash
Babies, just like their parents, have a natural affinity for sweet stuff. Jessica Shapiro, a wellness dietitian, started her baby on butternut and acorn squash.
She explains, “I continued along the vegetable spectrum [see below] before introducing fruit, other grains and meat. My theory is that I wanted my baby to appreciate vegetables before fruit to deter rejection of vegetables. Was my theory correct? Who knows, but I do know that my baby still loves vegetables.”
Transitioning to Toddler Foods
There are some foods to avoid before a baby hits the 1-year mark. According to Shapiro, these foods are:
–Milk (other dairy products are okay)
–Honey (which carries of a risk of botulism, a foodborne illness)
–Choking hazards: popcorn, chunks of raw fruits, raw vegetables, hot dogs, grapes, olives, meats. If it can fit through a toilet paper roll and doesn’t break down easily, it’s a risk.
After one year, you can start introducing your toddler to more foods and textures. Nutritionist Sarah Bester says, “There is no such thing [as a baby-friendly food]! If I’m eating it, she can eat it.”
Try some of these toddler-friendly foods: Blueberries
Rachel Beller, a registered dietician, recommends giving toddlers blueberries.
Blueberries are a superfood packed with antioxidants and are a great way to satisfy and toddler’s sweet tooth without giving them a sugary dessert. They can be served for breakfast in smoothies or oatmeal or for lunch and dinner as a side or in a salad. Tofu
Beller also recommends soy foods like tofu for toddlers.
“Whole soy foods are an excellent source of lean protein and have potent anti-cancer benefits. Tofu is great for young girls because it has a protective effect as their bodies and breast tissue are developing—which lasts into adulthood.” Smoothies Dietitian Cassie says, “Smoothies are another kid-friendly option that you can jam pack full of nutrition, and they can be portable too! Make one of these, dump it into your kid’s cup (instead of juice!) and take it to-go!
“I recommend blending some carbohydrate (half of fresh or frozen banana or berries and half cup of spinach!) and healthy fat (1-2 tablespoons peanut butter to complement that banana or half an avocado blends in very nicely) and half a scoop (equivalent to about 10 grams of protein) of natural whey protein powder.”
For Picky Eaters
Babies and toddlers are notoriously picky eaters, but there are some tips and tricks you can try to get your kids to eat a variety of foods.
If you’re just introducing your baby to new foods, and they continue to turn their heads or cry during mealtime, don’t force them to try solids, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics advises. Instead, go back to the bottle or breast for a few days and then give solids another go.
For picky toddlers, you can try hiding healthy veggies in other meals, like sneaking broccoli into pasta sauce or green veggies into a sweet smoothie. Check out this easy recipe for sneaky veggie mac n’ cheese!
Dietitians recommend these foods to tempt your picky eater: Hummus and Other Dips
Sticking food into creamy dips is a fun way for both kids and adults to snack. Kids especially might warm to vegetables if they get to dip them in a flavorful (but still healthy!) spread.
“My girls struggle with eating vegetables, so we rely on dips like hummus, guacamole, and even ranch and ketchup to encourage them to eat more veggies,” says registered dietitian Holley Grainger. “With dips, they’ll eat carrots, cucumbers, butter lettuce, canned green beans, and broccoli.” Apple “Sandwiches”
One way to get your threenager to eat snacks they might not otherwise touch is to serve it in creative ways.
Instead of boring apple slices, try making your toddler an apple sandwich with nut butter instead. Simply slice the apple into rings, spread on your favorite nut butter, and sprinkle with granola or raisins before placing another apple slice on top. Pizza
Hold on…pizza? Yes, if your kid loves pizza (and what kid doesn’t?), serve up a healthier version for picky eaters to ensure they get their nutrients in. Use a whole-grain English muffin for the crust and top with turkey pepperoni and pasta sauce. Gisela Bouvier suggests a homemade sauce packed with pureed veggies.
When her daughter refused veggies at mealtimes, Bouvier said, “As her mother and dietitian, this was very concerning to me. Although I continue to introduce vegetables to her, hoping that she will eat them again, I find ways to hide them as well to ensure she gets the nutrients she needs. Smoothies and pasta sauces have been the greatest hits.”
The avocado trend shows no sign of slowing down, and we’re okay with that. Avocados are chock full of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, and contain healthy monounsaturated fatty acids. Chickpea flour is high in iron, protein, and fiber, and it’s gluten-free too! But you won’t even have time to consider how healthy these savory pancakes are once you taste them.
Dragon fruit, also known as the pitaya fruit, is a great alternative to maple syrup and sugary compotes. Sweet and tangy, dragon fruits are loaded with antioxidants, B vitamins, and protein.
These maple butternut flapjacks are perfect for any autumn morning. Low in fat and high in fiber, the butternut squash purée accounts for the nutty flavor of these delicious pancakes.
