Author: Staff Writer

Doctors Reveal Which Everyday Habits Trigger Aging And Inflammation

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 22, 2017

The visible effects of aging are different for everyone, which is super unfair, if you ask us.
[pullquote align=”center”]Aging affects us on a genetic level.[/pullquote]
But rather than lament early crow’s feet or thinning hair, we decided to ask doctors what aging really is—what causes declining health over time—in the hopes of learning how we can slow down the unpleasant bits of growing older while enjoying the wisdom and greater clarity that often show up around the same time as your first gray hairs.

What we found out suggests that our lifestyles need to seriously change if we plan to keep a youthful look well into our golden years.
So if you want to get carded at the gas station for the rest of your life, watch out for these things, which have all been associated with wear and tear on our bodies themselves:

1. Your Contemporary Job

The [linkbuilder id=”4574″ text=”sedentary lifestyle”] is literally killing us. Studies suggest that women who spend at least six hours a day in a chair are 34 percent more likely to die early, and their cancer risk increases by 10 percent. The risk of early death for similarly sedentary men is 17 percent.
[pullquote align=”center”]One study even indicated that standing up every 30 minutes throughout the day can have similar health benefits as quitting smoking.[/pullquote]
Either way, the picture is bleak.

And the problem goes deeper than a simple lack of exercise, says Heather Hamilton, MD, a family medicine physician at Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center in Houston.
“This is not just about getting regular exercise, but also pertains to prolonged periods of sitting,” Hamilton tells HealthyWay. “Recent studies show that sitting too long can lead to higher mortality and early death. One study even indicated that standing up every 30 minutes throughout the day can have similar health benefits as quitting smoking.”
https://twitter.com/psitsjess_/status/991059492065501189
Maybe you’ve heard that “sitting is the new smoking.” That’s pretty much what this study says, just with a lot more data and hard-to-read scientific lingo. There’s no shortage of studies showing how important it is to get off of our heinies every once in awhile.
But it’s not that simple. So many of our jobs require us to sit at computers for eight hours a day. What can we do to mitigate the damage our careers are dealing to our bodies?

Reporting by the Washington Post that included interviews with doctors, researchers, and biomechanists offers a few solutions. Sit on an exercise ball at work, they say. When you’re watching TV, get up and walk around every time there’s a commercial.
Whatever you do, make sure you get up and move every half hour, as Hamilton mentions. If you have one of those seat-warming jobs, do whatever you can to get out of the chair, she recommends.

Everything about my body feels better since transitioning to a standing desk. I definitely recommend them!!

— Damin Altizer (@DaminAltizer) April 30, 2018

“This is applicable to many people with sedentary jobs,” Hamilton says. “People can simply stand and move at [their] work station, walk down the hall, or take a bathroom break.”
These are small things, but they add up over a lifetime—which may be considerably longer if you follow these suggestions.

2. Skipping the Cheese

Vitamin D is crucial for preventing inflammation-related disorders that come with age. For more on those disorders, and for some ways to stock up on the vitamin (including eating cheese), watch our video below:
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3. Laser-Focusing on Cardio

It’s hard enough to get to the gym in the first place. Once you’re there, it can be tempting to zone out on the bikes or the treadmill. Although cardio is great, there are real risks related to a lack of strength training.

“The aging process is associated with changes in muscle mass and strength with decline of muscle strength after the 30th year,” write Karsten Keller and Martin Engelhardt in the journal Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf1h3gVg-oL/?hl=en&taken-by=halleberry
While your muscles are wasting away, your metabolism slows down. This combination of factors can lead to unhealthy weight gain, which carries its own list of horrors. The point is, arm day may be more important than you think. Don’t neglect the weights.

4. Trying to Wring Even More Hours Out of the Day

We have a very sad fact to share. Brace yourself: Coffee cannot replace sleep.
We know, we know. We’re grieving too.

The truth is that doctors are serious when they tell you to get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night, every night, at least between the ages of 18 and 64. Less than that could affect your productivity and, worse, encourage your arteries to harden.
[pullquote align=”center”]The importance of sleep cannot be stressed enough.[/pullquote]
An article in the Harvard Business Review written by Harvard Medical School professor Charles Czeisler warns us that people who sleep less than five hours a night for five years in a row are three times more likely to develop hardened arteries.
“The importance of sleep cannot be stressed enough,” says Hamilton. “Sleep allows your body to process nutrients taken in during the day and allows your mind to process events of the day.”

There isn’t really a problem that insufficient sleep doesn’t make worse.
“Memory loss and mood disorders such as anxiety and depression have also been linked to sleep deprivation,” Hamilton says.

Even worse, skimping on your Zs can wreak havoc on your genes themselves, leading to DNA damage that raises your risk of cancer. We don’t know how to get more hours in the week either, but it’s clear that skipping sleep is not the way to do it.

5. Hating Your Job

If you want to live a long, happy life, free from the damaging effects of growing inflammation, you need to follow your passion. That’s not just a feel-good platitude; it’s medical science.
A systematic literature review published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine found that “job satisfaction level is an important factor influencing the health of workers.”

Hating your job can even spark or exacerbate mental health issues, explains Hamilton.
“Mood disorders such as depression or anxiety can be linked to job dissatisfaction,” she says. “There is an intricate interplay between health and job satisfaction in which both affect each other. When dealing with mental health, it is important to assess outlook on work as well as work-life balance.”
This all makes perfect sense when you think about it. When you hate your job, you spend every day stressed out and angry. According to the American Psychological Association, chronic stress makes existing health problems worse. It encourages the formation of bad habits, such as smoking and overeating. It can even increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.
https://twitter.com/spellshaney/status/991652312065064960
According to the latest report from the Pew Research Center, a discouraging 15 percent of working adults say they are “somewhat” or “very dissatisfied” with their jobs. But it’s important to remember that many of us do have other options. No matter how restricted you may feel, there’s always another job (or career!) out there, and remaining stuck in an unpleasant environment can actually speed up the aging process.

Tying It All Together

Okay, so what have we learned? Sleep enough, get off your behind, find a job you like, and work out. But no one of these things alone is enough to stop the the hands of the clock entirely.
To hold off the visible signs of aging as long as possible, you need to adopt a holistic approach to health, says Ellie Cobb, PhD, a psychologist who focuses on a the mind-body connection in wellness.

Aging affects us on a genetic level, Cobb tells HealthyWay, citing research by Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel that suggests the telomeres at the ends of our chromosomes actually shorten as we age. And these shorter telomeres that cause the negative health effects of aging. That’s because when these DNA caps reach a certain reduced length, the cells that contain them stop replicating. They die.
“The positive news is that scientific research also shows that we can change our telomere length by what situations we experience in life and how we chose to react to those experiences,” Cobb tells us.
So, like, how?

“Some positive ways to reduce inflammation (and therefore reduce negative aging effects) are [to] aim to get regular sufficient sleep, adopt a consistent meditation practice, be conscious of eating healthy fats and vegetables like avocados and leafy greens instead of refined sugars, exercise moderately, and find joy and thankfulness in the little things in life,” Cobb says.
So that’s it! Mindfulness is like calisthenics for your telomeres. We’ll see you and your lanky telomeres on the dance floor in many, many decades.

Tags 50027566, body, Commerce, HD, hemingway

Sweat

"Real Suntan" Cream Might Provide Protection From Skin Cancer

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 22, 2017

For 10 years, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have been on a quest for a better tanning product.

Tanning beds increase the risk of skin cancer by 59 percent for people under 35. Spray tans, meanwhile, contain a chemical called DHA, which might damage DNA. Besides, spray tans aren’t always that convincing.
But still many people are in pursuit of the “perfect” tan. So far that desire doesn’t seem to be going away completely, so researchers are thinking of solutions to the myriad problems associated with tanning and artificial tanning products.

What some researchers have been working on is a topical substance that stimulates the production of melanin pigment. According to the latest round of studies on mice, they’ve cracked the code. But the benefits of this new “real tan” cream could go way beyond cosmetic usage.
Scientists remain hopeful that this new substance will cut rates of skin cancer as soon as it can be introduced on the market.

“Assuming there are no safety concerns, it is clearly a better option than UV exposure,” Jerod Stapleton, of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, told Science magazine. “We are talking about millions of young people potentially not using tanning beds each year. …It could be a game-changer for skin cancer prevention.”

Stapleton was not involved in the latest study, but dermatologist David Fisher was.

“We are excited about the possibility of inducing dark pigment production in human skin without a need for either systemic exposure to a drug or UV exposure to the skin,” Fisher told Cosmopolitan.

The substance spurs cells to produce melanin pigment, which naturally protects the skin from damage caused by the sun’s UV rays. To understand how a tanning cream can actually provide real health benefits, consider the action of a natural suntan.
The UV light of the sun strikes the skin, damaging the cells with prolonged exposure. Skin cells respond by producing more dark melanin, which is the body’s way of protecting the skin from UV rays. Fisher’s “real suntan” cream skips the first step, spurring the skin to produce dark melanin without first sustaining damage.

Even redheads, who typically burn badly, can enjoy a nice tan by using this substance.

Unfortunately, we’ll all have to wait awhile before it hits the markets.
“A lot more research has to be done before we see this sort of technology being used on humans, however, it’s certainly an interesting proposition,” Matthew Gass, of the British Association of Dermatologists, told BBC News. “Skin cancer rates in the UK are going through the roof…any research into ways that we can prevent people from developing skin cancer in the first place is to be welcomed.”

The breakthrough study in this decade-long pursuit was published in the journal Cell Reports in July 2017. The secret was to manipulate a skin protein that scientists call salt-inducible kinase, or SIK for short.
SIK controls the production of melanin, shutting off the cells that produce the pigment. Fisher and a chemist named Nathanael Gray, who works at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, found a molecule that inhibits the SIK action that shuts off melanin production.
Then they shaved the backs of pale mice. They painted a liquid compound containing the special molecule on the exposed skin of the mice every day for a week. By day seven, the skin had become “almost jet black,” as Fisher described it to Science.

While the substance is a long way from commercial availability, Fisher and Gray have experimented on human skin.

They mixed in chemicals that are known to improve penetration into the skin, then they acquired patches of skin removed in unrelated surgical procedures. They tried many creams, but only one created a brown splotch on the skin.

When the researchers examined this skin on a microscopic level, they found that it was indistinguishable from a natural suntan. So what would it take to create a cream that gives you a natural tan and reduces your chance of developing skin cancer?
Well, the BBC reports that the research team is busy at work with more tests. A product like this has to be proven safe many times over before it will be approved for general use. The good news, though, is that the researchers have seen “no hint of problems,” they told the BBC.

Not every scientist is thrilled with this new development.

Jennifer Herrmann, a dermatological surgeon who works at Moy-Fincher-Chipps Facial Plastics & Dermatology in Beverly Hills, warns readers of Science that it’s too early to celebrate. A natural suntan cream could carry its own new risks, she said.

“I worry these molecules could give people a false sense of security,” Herrmann said. “If you are just slightly darker, you may not give yourself a huge amount of protection.”
For now, and maybe forever, Herrmann suggests that we’re better off with sunscreen. Someday soon, we might be able to pick up a tanning sunscreen that gives us the most possible protection from the sun’s rays while also darkening the skin to the desired hue.

“Dr. Fisher says everyone should ‘absolutely’ use sun-cream, and they eventually want to combine it with the drug to provide the best protection from solar radiation,” the Independent reports.
Imagine that: Soon, high-SPF sunscreens may not be the only name in the game.

Tags 50027536, body, hemingway

Sweat

8 Disturbing Fitness Trends That Keep Gaining Traction

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 20, 2017

We all want to be physically fit, but there’s no such thing as a universal definition of “fitness.” To some people, fitness is simply a healthy BMI (even though there’s plenty of evidence that BMI is flawed). To others, it’s a toned, slim, beach-ready body. For some people, fitness means touching your elbows together in front of your bellybutton.
Wait, what?
Each year brings new fitness trends, and some of those trends are healthy—there’s nothing wrong with Pilates, for instance, and we’re not going to mock anyone for picking up a few yoga classes. However, some fitness trends are downright dangerous.

To evaluate some recent trends in getting fit, we spoke with Rui Li, a National Academy of Sports Medicine-certified personal trainer and the owner of New York Personal Training, a boutique fitness studio.
“My studio’s philosophy is all about total body wellness, so these crazy fitness trends are actually the opposite of what I preach,” Li says. She’s talking about things like…

1. Thigh Gaps

This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: You’re thin enough that there’s a clear gap between your thighs when you stand up.
As cool as some people may think it looks, unless your body is naturally built to have a gap, it’s almost impossible to create one while maintaining your overall health.

The biggest factor in determining whether you have a thigh gap is how your thighs sit in relation to each other. That’s largely determined by your bone structure—you can burn all the fat you want, but you can’t magically change the positioning of your hips.
If you don’t have the body type for a thigh gap, achieving one can be dangerous, since you’d need to bring your body fat down to a dangerously low level while decreasing your muscle mass.
“If you look at all the strongest people in the world, powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, and strongmen competitors, they all have thick thighs that have no space whatsoever,” Li explains.
Those athletes don’t have thigh gaps—and that’s completely fine.

“In fact, many strength athletes complain about their inner thighs rubbing together and causing skin irritation and deterioration of their pants,” Li says, proving that some of the strongest people in the world aren’t aiming for a gap.

2. Sunburn Tattoos

Don’t have the money for a tattoo? You could always use sunlight to burn a stencil right onto your skin. Of course, that’s an insanely unhealthy idea, but the #sunburntattoo hashtag took off in 2015, drawing an outcry from dermatologists everywhere.
By some estimates, UV light exposure causes approximately 90 percent of all melanomas (the most dangerous form of skin cancer). Sunburns increase your chances of melanomas substantially; according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, on average, a person’s risk of developing a melanoma doubles if he or she has had more than five sunburns.

Besides, this trend doesn’t look cool—it just looks painful.

3. Cracked Abs

Meet the ab crack, which is essentially the thigh gap for your abs. It’s basically just a line that runs down the middle of your abdomen, and it’s a byproduct of having a low percentage of body fat.
As you might have guessed, it isn’t healthy.
To have clearly defined abdominal muscles, most people need to sit around 6 percent body fat. While we’d never say that anyone with a six pack is unhealthy—after all, you can still nourish yourself well and be really lean—you’ll have to go even further beyond this to get an ab crack. You’d also have to lose some muscle.

“If the ab muscles are underdeveloped, then the crack becomes much more prominent when the person is lean,” Li says. “If you look at bodybuilders who are in competition, they are extremely lean, often dropping to 4 percent body fat, but they don’t have a bizarre crack in their abdominal midline because they strength train to develop bulk in their abdominal muscles.”
Li says that the “ab crack” can be a sign of a condition called diastasis recti, which often affects people who have lifted heavy items without building up adequate core strength.

The medical editor of Health, Roshini Rajapaksa, MD, notes that “getting an ab crack is probably not a realistic or healthy goal for the average person.” Most people will never be able to attain the look with even a clean diet and an intense workout regimen.

4. Protruding Ribs

Recently, social media users have started discussing “rib cage bragging,” which is exactly what it sounds like. People post photos to social media that show their rib cage visibly sticking out, with each and every bone clearly defined under the skin.
You can guess by now where we’re going with this one—while some people’s rib cages may stick out more than others, having one so clearly defined can only be attained with an extremely low level of body fat.

“This is entirely genetic,” Li says. “Some people just have ribs that stick out while others do not. I hover around 18-23 percent body fat, but even at my highest, around 25 percent, all I have to do is raise my arms to stretch and my ribs will pop out.”
Li says that your standing posture might affect whether or not your ribs protrude, but otherwise, it’s not something to strive for.
“This is an absolute nonsensical trend,” Li says.

Thankfully, this is one trend that seems to be on its way out, with many social media users publicly stating they’re not buying into the hype. As one Twitter user wrote, “‘Ribcage bragging’ is apparently a new trend? Only ribs you’ll see of mine are the BBQ ribs on my plate.”

5. Waist Training

This trend was started in large part due to the Kardashian family, who frequently post pictures of themselves in Victorian-like corsets.
The idea is that the waist trainers will gradually reduce your waistline, but Li says that contracting your waist within such a small frame can be dangerous.

“There is no way to squish your fat, muscles, organs, and ribs together without hindering how well your body functions,” Li says. “The human body evolved to be of a certain shape and proportion, and aside from exercise and diet, there is no other healthy way to modify the body.”
When worn for too long, waist trainers essentially push all of your internal organs together, resulting in some strange side effects.
“Every single thing you do to your body affects your biomechanics, from sitting at your workstation to wearing pointy-toed high heels,” Li says. “Think about how important it is to take a deep belly breath. If everything around your waist is regularly squished tighter together, you will have a much harder time getting a deep breath. Short, shallow breaths can cause anxiety, make sleeping difficult, and even cause dizziness and fainting.”

6. The A4 Waist Challenge

The A4 Waist Challenge, which has reportedly taken hold in China, encourages women to take photos of themselves with a piece of A4–size printer paper in front of their waists to show that their waists are as wide or smaller than the piece of paper. A4 printer paper, by the way, is 8.27 inches wide.

Not only is the challenge ridiculous, it prompts many women to strive for a goal that’s completely unattainable. Even with a low body fat percentage, your natural shape isn’t something you can change.

7. Alien Yoga

Also known as “nauli,” alien yoga is a yoga move that is said to strengthen your core and detoxify your digestive system.
To perform the move, you start by exhaling fully, pushing your stomach outwards. Then, while holding your breath, you pull your abdominal muscles up towards your chest, then move them from left to right.

So, does it work? Well, sort of—it contracts your core, but the “detoxification” benefits are dubious at best (detoxification doesn’t really exist, apart from the natural processes of your liver and kidneys).
Though the move should always be done in the presence of an instructor, it’s fairly safe. Yoga website DoYouYoga doesn’t recommend nauli for women who are pregnant or for people who suffer from ulcers, hernias, or heart conditions.

8. The Belly Button Challenge

Originating in China, this has to be one of the strangest body-related challenges out there. The idea is that if you’re able to wrap your arm behind your back and around to your belly button, you’re at an ideal shape and weight.
That is, of course, untrue.
“This is simply a mobility challenge,” Li says. “When you see yogis contorting themselves, it’s because they have a great deal of flexibility in their joints. Being able to wrap your arm around your waist and touch your belly button from the other side simply means you have a lot of shoulder mobility. Hypermobility, to be precise.”

While there’s nothing inherently dangerous about the pose itself, challenges like these can be harmful to people with eating disorders, according to James Hamblin of The Atlantic. Li also believes that successfully conquering the “challenge” isn’t such a great accomplishment.
“Too much of a good thing is not great,” she says. “To be that mobile means the person is lacking strength and stability in their shoulder, which makes them prone to serious injuries. “

Tags 50025466, body, hemingway

Wellbeing

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Symptoms That Most People Ignore

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 20, 2017

What is B12?
Vitamin B12 is one of the vitamins responsible for a well-functioning metabolism and robust energy levels. In addition, B12 helps promote healthy function of red blood cells and nerve tissue.

It’s found naturally in high-protein foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and milk.

Who is at risk for B12 deficiency?

Because B12 is not generally found in plant-based foods, vegetarians are at risk for B12 deficiencies. Older adults are also at risk, because the body doesn’t readily absorb B12 as we age.

If you take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for chronic heartburn or have been diagnosed with a gastrointestinal condition like Crohn’s disease, you may also be at risk for B12 deficiency.

B12 Deficiency Treatments

Most symptoms can be treated simply by increasing the number of B12-rich foods in your diet. If you suffer from a mild deficiency, upping your protein intake might be enough to get your energy back.

If your B12 deficiency is more severe, you may need B12 injections or supplements to get your health back on track. Not sure if you’re getting enough B12? Check to see if any of these b12 deficiency symptoms apply to you.

1. Anemia

A B12 deficiency can cause anemia (low red blood cell production). Red blood cells carry oxygen all over the body. When the body doesn’t produce enough red blood cells, the available oxygen decreases as well.

B12-related anemia can cause many other issues, including:

Extreme Fatigue

It’s normal to get tired during the day if you didn’t sleep well the night before, just ate a large meal, or completed strenuous exercise. But it isn’t normal to experience an overwhelming fatigue that doesn’t go away with rest.

Muscle Weakness

You might experience soreness after a hard workout for a day or two, but if your muscles feel like you just ran a marathon after a simple activity like brushing your hair, you may be anemic.

Heart Palpitations

Feel a flutter in your chest? You could be experiencing heart palpitations due to decreased oxygen circulation.

Breathlessness

Breathlessness is normal after activity, but if you find yourself short of breath during rest, it’s an indicator that something’s not right. Just like heart palpitations, anemia can cause breathlessness due to a lack of oxygen in the blood.

Pale Skin

Red blood cells are responsible for the rosy color in our cheeks. When red blood cell production decreases—as it does in anemic individuals—the skin becomes pale and colorless.

2. Pins-and-Needles Sensation

You know the pins-and-needles sensation you often get when your foot falls asleep?

This sensation is called peripheral neuropathy and can be linked to nerve damage caused by a B12 deficiency.
According to the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy, a B12 deficiency damages the sheath that surrounds and protects nerves, resulting in an unpleasant and sometimes painful tingling sensation.

Other diseases such as diabetes can also cause a pins-and-needles sensation, so it’s always best to make an appointment with your doctor to rule out other conditions.

3. Forgetfulness and Confusion

One of the more frightening symptoms of B12 deficiency is severe forgetfulness and confusion. This symptom most frequently occurs in older adults and can be misdiagnosed as dementia. That’s what happened to Ilsa Katz, the subject of a 2011 New York Times article about vitamin B12 deficiency.

Ms. Katz’s daughter noticed her mother’s increasing inability to remember faces and events. She became easily confused and often couldn’t remember where she was going or how she got there.
The preliminary diagnosis was Alzheimer’s disease, but routine blood work showed low levels of B12. With a few weeks of B12 injections, Ms. Katz’s condition vastly improved.

It’s normal to experience what’s called brain fog every now and then, like forgetting where you parked your car or why you came to the grocery store in the first place. But if you are consistently unable to recall your boss’ name or often find yourself in a certain place with no recollection of how you got there, you may be experiencing extreme B12 deficiency.

4. Mood Disorders

Many mood disorders, including anxiety and depression, are linked to low levels of B12. As Wellness Mama explains, B12 helps regulate the production of mood-controlling chemicals such as serotonin. When B12 levels are lowered, production of these chemicals are interrupted, which can result in certain mood disorders.

Of course, anxiety and depression can be caused by many other factors, like stress or hormonal imbalance.
But if you find yourself suddenly crying for no reason, or if you experience other symptoms of anxiety, you may want to have your B12 levels checked.

5. Changes in Vision

If you notice changes in your vision, you might assume it’s time to visit the optometrist. However, a B12 deficiency could be to blame. Because low levels of B12 in the body can cause nerve damage, one of the more serious symptoms of B12 deficiency is blurry vision.

You may also experience shadows over your field of vision or sensitivity to light. If your vision problems are caused by an undiagnosed B12 deficiency, you could risk long-term damage to the optic nerve, resulting in permanent vision loss.

6. Jaundice

Most of us have only heard of jaundice in reference to newborn babies, who are occasionally born with this condition, in which skin and eyes may take on a yellow tone. Jaundice occurs when bilirubin builds up in the bloodstream.

Normally, the liver filters bilirubin out of the body along with old red blood cells. A B12 deficiency can cause a breakdown in red blood cell production, which results in a buildup of bilirubin.
If you notice your skin has taken on a sallow appearance, or the whites of your eyes appear yellow, you may have a B12 deficiency.

7. Smooth Tongue

When was the last time you took a good look at your tongue? If you haven’t checked out your mouth lately, it might be time to take a peek. According to Stanford University, the tongue should generally be a pink–red color, have a rough surface (where your taste buds are located), and fit comfortably against your front teeth.

smooth tongue is a symptom of low vitamin b12 — Stanford Medicine

If you notice that food just doesn’t taste as flavorful, check your tongue. In individuals with a B12 deficiency, the tongue will actually appear swollen, smooth, and bright red. You may also experience glossitis, which is the medical term for an extremely sore tongue.

Always speak with your doctor.

A B12 deficiency is hard to diagnose because symptoms of low B12 levels are also symptoms of many other conditions and diseases. Although it might be tempting, don’t try to diagnose or treat your symptoms yourself.

Speak with your doctor before beginning any treatment—even a vitamin supplement. A simple blood test can confirm if you have a B12 deficiency, and your doctor will recommend the appropriate treatment plan.

Tags 50027086, body, hemingway

Motherhood

Five Things Moms Can Tell Their Kids To Give Them Confidence As Adults

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 20, 2017

Kids have a well-developed sense of self-esteem by the age of 5, which is much earlier than researchers originally suspected.

Because children begin to form ideas about their own self-worth as early as age 3, parents play a significant role in nurturing a child’s positive self-esteem and confidence.
Moms, you may not realize it as you shout for your kids to put on their shoes for what seems like the 10 billionth time, but they really are listening.

Parents are a child’s first role model, and the words you use when speaking to your kids will have a profound impact on the adults they become.
Help them build confidence that will last into adulthood and use these phrases when talking with your kids.

1. “I think I look great today.”

Many moms react negatively when they look in the mirror. If you have an unhealthy relationship with your body, you can’t help foster body confidence in your kids. While it isn’t a fix-all, the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) offers a list of tips to help you regain confidence in your own body.

Up to 70 percent of teenage girls avoid activities because they don’t like the way their bodies look. Even if you never negatively comment on your child’s appearance, kids notice when you make negative comments about your own body.
When you only make positive statements about yourself, your kids will take note. Don’t complain about your (barely noticeable) muffin top or bemoan those extra 10 pounds to your daughter. Instead, comment on the things you love about your appearance, like the way your new jeans fit just right.

One great way to reinforce a healthy body image with your kids is to periodically help them write down all the things they like about themselves and post their list in a place they’ll see it often.

2. “You’re right, that did suck.”

As a mom, your first instinct when your kids fail is to praise them anyway in an attempt to comfort them. But kids are intuitive; they know when they’re being placated. Telling your kid, “Great job!” when they know they’ve done poorly only reinforces negative feelings.

If your kid missed the game-winning shot at his last basketball game, don’t be afraid to say, “Yeah, today wasn’t very good.” That might sound harsh, but one mom put it this way when she agreed with her daughter that she just wasn’t good at sports:
“I want my kids to have a right-sized understanding of themselves–their strengths and weaknesses—so they won’t be shocked and appalled when things get tough, or the world isn’t delivering just what they wanted the second they wanted it. They will understand that many things, most things, require a nearly inhumane amount of WORK. Lots and lots and lots of work…if my kid thinks she is the best in everything, wouldn’t she also think the world should be working for her?”

When we gently teach our kids that there are some things at which we excel and some areas where we just don’t, we set them up to have reasonable expectations for themselves in adulthood. You’re not limiting your child’s success; you’re preparing her to be confident in the face of adversity.

3. “This is how much money we make.”

Talk to your kids early about financial management. This will help them learn good money management skills in preparation for adulthood. As personal finance writer Ron Lieber noted in the New York Times, money is a mystery to most children. When they view money simply as an unlimited source of fun, they’re not learning the value behind currency.

Lieber sums it up this way:
“If we’re not open with them about finances, we’re setting them up for financial failure in adulthood. Shielding children from the realities of everyday financial life makes little sense anymore, given the responsibilities their generation will face, starting with the outsize college tuitions they will encounter while still in high school. …Or not knowing how and why to start saving right away for retirement, or how to pick a health insurance plan.”

This doesn’t mean that you need to dump your entire financial history on your kids when they’re in kindergarten. But by teaching them financial transparency and good money management when they’re young, you’ll set them up for financial success in adulthood.

4. “Can you help me with this?”

When you’ve got a thousand things on your to-do list, as most parents do, it may seem easier to do everything on your own. Although that may be the easiest thing to do, it’s not often the best thing for your kids.

According to psychologist Jeanne Williams, continually doing things for your kids without their help sends a message that you don’t have confidence in their abilities. If kids feel like their parents don’t believe they’re capable, guess what? They won’t think they’re capable either, which can set them up for hardship in adulthood.
Start by asking younger kids to help you with tasks or chores that directly relate to them so they have a sense of responsibility. Ask them to lay out their clothes or pack their snack for school. Make sure you give them ample time to complete the task so you can avoid the temptation to complete the task yourself.

For example, if you’re running a half-hour late to a morning meeting, this is probably not the best day to let your kid pick out their own clothes for the first time.
Older kids can assist with harder tasks, like helping you prepare a meal. They’ll feel proud that they helped you accomplish a goal. Asking your kids for help fosters confidence in their own abilities and a desire to help others as they grow older.

5. “Why don’t you decide?”

Letting your kid make their own choices helps build confidence in their decision-making skills. Although you don’t want to let your child make every decision on their own, you can start at an early age by allowing them to make their own choices a few times a day.

If your kid does make a mistake, don’t jump in and correct him right away. A study by Dr. Eveline Crone showed that kids under the age of 12 rarely respond to negative feedback. When your child makes a poor choice, instead of pointing out why their decision was wrong, focus on turning the mistake into a positive learning experience.

For example, your first-grader refuses to put on a raincoat before going to the park, even though you’ve explained it might rain. You let her choose not to wear her coat, and when it rains at the park, she gets soaked. Your child knows she made a mistake.
Instead of pointing this out to her, ask, “What would happen if you’d chosen to wear your rain jacket today?” This can help facilitate a conversation between you and your child about the power of making our own choices—a skill that will stay with them well into adulthood.

Tags 50026881, hemingway, parenting

Lifestyle

5 Ways To Use A Sponge That Are Seriously Game Changing

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 19, 2017

Sponges are a cheap and versatile tool that can be used to clean pretty much anything. All you really need is a pair of scissors and a few other typical household items. Watch the video below for a step by step guide.

1. Cut your sponge to more easily clean wire cooling racks.

The sponge can easily reach the spaces between the wires where food gets stuck.

2. Don’t have a fabric softener dispenser? Use a sponge instead.

Soak your sponges in a little bit of water and fabric softener, then add one to the wash.

3. Turn your sponge into a soap dispenser.

Simply cut a hole in the sponge that approximates the shape of your soap.

4. Use with tongs to clean your blinds.

Make an incision in the bottom of the sponge and insert tongs. You’ll have clean blinds in no time.

5. Easily remove nail polish.

Soak a sponge in nail polish remover and avoid wasting all those cotton balls.

Tags 50027371, care, hemingway

Motherhood

4-D Ultrasound Shows Actual Effects Of Smoking While Pregnant

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 19, 2017

We’ve known for some time that if a woman smokes while she’s pregnant it can have negative effects on her developing baby. From a higher risk of premature birth and low birth weight to increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long warned that a mother’s smoking habit can have a serious impact on her unborn child’s life.

The reality of the dangers of smoking while pregnant is clearer than ever before. This is thanks to new 4-D ultrasound technology and research performed by Dr. Nadja Reissland and her colleagues in the Department of Psychology at Durham University.

Similar to other ultrasounds used during pregnancy, 4-D ultrasounds rely on sound waves to craft a picture of what a fetus looks like in the womb. What sets them apart, however, is that fact that 4-D ultrasound technology can actually create a video of the baby that can be watched in real time. This allows parents to see their baby move in the woman and even observe their responses to stimuli in their environment.

An unborn child’s response to their environment is exactly what researcher Reissland and her team were interested in when they began their observations for a study published by the journal Acta Paediatric.

Using 4-D ultrasound technology and precise observation software, researchers focused on watching exactly how an unborn baby responds when mothers continue their smoking habits during pregnancy.

The results of their research were nothing short of astonishing.

Four ultrasound scans were performed over the course of 12 weeks, starting at 24 weeks’ gestation. Study participants included 20 expectant mothers. Four of these mothers were regular smokers.

Although further research is needed to determine the exact implications of this study, results indicated that the babies of the smoking moms had significantly higher mouth movements and were touching their faces at much higher rates.

Researchers believed that these movements were negative responses to the mother smoking during pregnancy, and this information provides further evidence that continuing a smoking habit is harmful to developing fetuses.

Outside of providing us with important information about how babies develop in the womb and how expectant mothers can make lifestyle decisions that are in the best interest of their unborn baby, 4-D ultrasounds also confirm one more important truth: Pregnancy and fetal development are truly amazing. In fact, thanks to advancing medical technology, here are seven things we now know babies do in utero.

1. Your baby is learning to recognize your voice.

While your baby is growing inside your womb, they are learning important skills for survival on the outside. One study published in the journal Infant Behavior & Development found clear evidence that during the third trimester, babies are learning to prefer their mother’s voice over that of female strangers.

2. Your baby is getting the hiccups.

Have you ever noticed that your baby’s kicks feel suspiciously rhythmic and predictable? Chances are high that you’re not experiencing kicks, but what you’re actually feeling is that your baby has a case of the hiccups.

Most babies start to hiccup in the womb early on, but you may not notice these jerky movements until closer to six months, according to Healthline.

3. Your baby can taste what you eat.

We may not be certain about what causes intense cravings during pregnancy, but we do know for sure that when Mom is chowing down on tacos, Baby is getting a taste, too. Research shows that the nutrients from the food that pregnant women eat find their way into their amniotic fluid.

Amazingly, as early as 20 weeks’ gestation, babies begin to take big drinks of amniotic fluid and develop a taste for certain foods. What you eat during pregnancy may even influence what they prefer or dislike once they begin to eat solid food outside of the womb, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.

4. Your baby is smiling.

There is something life changing about the first time your baby flashes a grin. Thanks to 4-D ultrasounds, we know that babies start practicing their smile long before they’re born.

According to research published in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, as fetuses’ brains develop they start learning to use their face. In addition to smiling, your baby is also practicing yawning, sticking their tongue out, and blinking while they wait to be born—when they can start making cute faces for their parents.

5. Your baby is learning to anticipate touch.

Newborns have an impressive ability to anticipate touch instead of merely reacting to it once they’ve experienced it. As it turns out, this is a skill that is learned in the womb.

Research in the journal of Developmental Psychobiology found that fetuses begin to open their mouth as an anticipatory response to touch right around nine months’ gestation. Additionally, repeated ultrasounds throughout the remainder of the pregnancy showed that babies become more skilled at anticipating touch the closer they are to being born.

6. Your baby is reacting to light.

Right around week 28 of your pregnancy, your baby’s eyes will open. They may not have a lot to look at in their first home, but they learn to react to light quickly.

By the 33rd week of your pregnancy, your baby’s pupils are dilating and constricting, fully able to detect when light enters the eye.

7. Your baby is learning language.

The developing brain is nothing short of amazing. In the third trimester, babies not only learn to prefer their mother’s voice, they also show preference for their native language.

Researchers studied fetal sensitivity to maternal speech and language by monitoring changes in the babies’ heart rate. The study determined that fetuses in the third trimester of pregnancy responded uniquely to their mother’s native language versus a foreign language being spoken.

Tags 50026456, hemingway, parenting

Motherhood

Here Comes Yet Another Controversial Opinion In The Breastfeeding Vs. Formula Debate

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 19, 2017

Why is it that policy proposals that target women’s choices always spring from the mind of a man?
A 2014 article published inexplicably in the Guardian’s “News” section is a case in point. In the “expert” opinion piece (which has recently churned to the surface of the internet after a few years of deserved obscurity), a guy named Eric Assadourian argues that baby formula should be treated as a controlled substance worldwide.

Assadourian works as something called a “Transforming Cultures project director” at the sustainability research NGO Worldwatch Institute. We suppose he was simply trying to transform our culture.
Assadourian calls for a global Framework Convention on Formula Control, which would make formula available only by prescription. The goal is to make every mother in the world breastfeed their babies, no matter how she feels about it.

For the record, Assadourian’s risible policy is modeled on the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which shows you what he really thinks about baby formula.

If Assadourian could stop mansplaining motherhood for a hot second, he might learn that women generally don’t choose formula over breast milk because they hate their babies.

By some estimates, 1 in 1,000 new moms is physically unable to produce breast milk, a condition known as mammary hypoplasia. That might not sound like a lot, but considering that nearly 4 million infants were born in the U.S. in 2010 (the last year for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published statistics), that’s 4,000 moms who probably don’t want to be publicly shamed for a health problem that they can’t control.
Then there’s postpartum depression, which affects 1 in 7 women who give birth, by the American Psychological Association’s count. If Assadourian wants to tell a mom with a serious mood disorder that she should snap out of it and get pumping, what can we say?

(If you’re struggling with postpartum depression or think you might be, help is available. Call the Postpartum Support International hotline at 800-944-4PPD. That’s 800-944-4773.)
Men raise infants alone, too. Do we really want to ask them to call in a prescription every week to keep their babies fed?

Finally, social conditions predict the likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding with remarkable consistency.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 21 percent of women who earn six times the poverty line breastfeed for six months after giving birth. Only 12 percent of mothers below the poverty line reach that same milestone.

The reasons for the disparity are as dismaying as they are familiar. Low-income moms have to return to work much sooner than their wealthier counterparts. The United States still doesn’t have laws guaranteeing paid maternity leave, and lower-paying jobs are far less likely to offer this benefit.
Women who aren’t wealthy often lack the freedom to stop what they’re doing and breastfeed their baby 10 to 12 times a day. Placing an added burden on these women could amount to class discrimination.

As Jeanne Sager writes on Cafemom, “Whether you love formula companies or hate them, breast milk is neither free nor available to all mothers. All the other aforementioned issues that keep moms from breastfeeding remain, and they’re not going away anytime soon.”
How many times do we have to say it? Her body, her choice.

Tags 50027061, hemingway, parenting

Lifestyle

This Fitness Blogger Hasn't Shaved Her Legs In A Year, Here's Why

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 16, 2017

There’s nothing easy about being a teenage girl in today’s United States.
Morgan Mikenas knew this all too well. When her leg hair began to grow and darken, the other girls at school made fun of her. She learned from her peers that body hair was shameful, and she spent her teenage years struggling to conform to society’s expectations of her body. In other words, she started shaving.

She shaved her legs. She shaved her armpits. When people told her that body hair was “ugly,” she believed them. None of it made her happy. No amount of shaving could convince her of her own beauty.

Then, when she was around 19, Mikenas made a decision.

She was done shaving her body. She was tired of the nicks and the dry skin. She was tired of taking time out of her day. Most of all, she was tired of doing something that felt wrong just to conform to someone else’s definition of beauty.

“I stopped shaving because it was an inconvenience,” Mikenas told Vice after a year without razors. “It’s pointless. I feel like it’s an act of submission to the male-dominated culture we live in… Shaving my legs makes me feel powerless.”

As a 20-year-old fitness blogger, Mikenas is at home communicating with wide audiences on the internet.

Maybe that’s why she used YouTube as a venue to share her decision not to shave her body with the world. In March 2017, Mikenas posted a 13-minute video explaining why she no longer shaves.

“I haven’t shaved my legs for over a year, and I will never go back,” she wrote in the introduction to that video. “The purpose of this video is not to shame people who do shave, I just want to speak on how its helped me become more comfortable with myself, and maybe inspire others to do something that makes them feel confident.”

Mikenas figured that the video would clear things up for curious friends and family members. Within a few months, though, her video had more than 1.3 million views. She had gone viral.
“That was a surprise to me,” Mikenas said of her video’s popularity. “I wanted to share my views in order to change the way people think, encourage them to think more about their behavior and to experience self-love.”

Those are lessons that Mikenas had to figure out for herself.

Since she made the decision to let her body hair go natural, she’s been a much more confident person. She’s proud of herself for taking a stand against someone else’s definition of beauty. From now on, no one defines Mikenas’ beauty but herself. That’s empowerment she hopes to share with women everywhere.

“For someone who’s thinking of not shaving, but is concerned about being teased, I just want you to know that self-confidence is your superpower,” she said. “You can be immune to criticism by being fearless. Practice acceptance, for others and yourself.”
Watch Mikenas’ touching YouTube video here. No matter what you think about body hair, this young woman has some lessons in self-acceptance that we could all use.

Tags 50026896, body, hemingway

Motherhood

Wonder Woman Gal Gadot Was Actually 5 Months Pregnant During Filming

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date June 15, 2017

Countless expectant moms continue on with their jobs after learning they are pregnant, but Wonder Woman lead Gal Gadot took the title “working mom” to a whole new level when she filmed reshoots for the film while she was five months pregnant.

gal gadot pregnant — gal_gadot/Instagram

Working while pregnant isn’t an uncommon experience, especially over the last half a century. Although staying home while pregnant may have been a common expectation in the 1950s, in the early 2000s 66% of women expecting their first child continued working throughout their entire pregnancy, according to the Pew Research Center.
Still, if your job involved fighting the “war to end all wars,” you might think twice about heading in to work while pregnant. Keeping up with the demands of filming a movie packed with intense action and battle sequences is challenging enough, but Gadot did it all while growing a human being.

When the time came to film reshoots—an inevitable part of producing most films—Gadot wasn’t about to let her growing baby bump stand in the way of fulfilling her Wonder Woman responsibilities.
“She’s pregnant during part of the movie,” director Patty Jenkins told Entertainment Weekly. “There are so many things we asked her to do: Now do it on one foot. Now shout while you’re doing it.”

In order to accommodate the changes in Gadot’s body, the costume crew adjusted by cutting a triangle out of the front of her costume, according to Entertainment Weekly. Additionally, her belly was covered with a special green fabric that made it possible to hide the pregnancy using special effects once the shooting was finished.

Of course, Gadot isn’t the first actress to keep filming after finding out motherhood was in their near future. Here are six actresses you probably never knew were pregnant while filming.

Debra Messing

Forget about special effects, clothing and strategically placed props were used to conceal Debra Messing’s pregnancy during the filming of Will & Grace.

When Messing became pregnant while filming the sixth season of the show, the crew made many accommodations to try to hide her growing belly. Unfortunately, after experiencing pregnancy complications, Messing was put on bed rest and couldn’t be a part of filming the final episodes of the season.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

In season three of Seinfeld—arguably the most popular sitcom of all time—Julia Louis-Dreyfus took a short hiatus from the show while her character, Elaine, went on a European adventure.

Unlike Elaine, Louis-Dreyfus wasn’t on vacation, she was caring for her new child. While the first several episodes of the season were filmed, props and costumes were used to conceal her growing belly.

Amy Poehler

If you look close enough, you just might be able to spot a growing belly on Leslie Knope in seasons two and three of Parks and Recreation.

Not only did Poehler keep filming throughout her pregnancy, she actually shot two seasons back to back, an accommodation the show’s creators made to allow her a longer maternity leave after her son was born.

Ellen Pompeo

When the sixth season of Grey’s Anatomy began filming, the cast and crew had to get creative when it came to accommodating the leading actress’ growing pregnancy belly. Instead of writing Ellen Pompeo’s pregnancy into the storyline, they wrote around it. Several episodes were shot strategically, showing only her back or above above her belly.

As the end of her pregnancy drew near, a plot line was written that involved Meredith Grey donating part of her liver to her father. Her character’s surgery conveniently required some time off work, which meant Pompeo could take a much needed maternity leave.

Sarah Jessica Parker

It was undoubtedly helpful that Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker’s character in the long-running TV series Sex in the City, was known for her unique ensembles.

When Parker became pregnant during the filming of the show’s fifth season, her fashion choices became more than just a statement—they were used to cover up her pregnant belly.

January Jones

No one saw it coming when Betty Draper—ex-wife to Mad Men’s leading character, Don Draper—gained a significant amount of weight during the show’s fifth season.

Betty, played by January Jones, found a lot of security and power in her beauty, but when Jones became pregnant, the show’s creators eager to try something new. Instead of writing in a pregnancy, they had Betty gain weight and grapple not only with her shame over her weight but also with the health issues that were causing the unexpected weight gain.
The accommodations that are made to hide a character’s pregnancy are impressive, but they pale in comparison to the demands of working while pregnant. Acting while pregnant is no small feat—especially in cases like Gadot’s, whose character was part of battle scenes and physically demanding action sequences.

What about everyone else?

Of course, countless expectant moms continue on with their normal lives and jobs after learning they’re expecting, but not all workplaces are as accommodating as a Hollywood movie set.

The truth is, working while pregnant can be tough. Early morning commutes and first trimester fatigue and nausea don’t exactly go hand and hand. And if lifting, walking, or cleaning are a part of your daily workplace tasks, you can bet these things are only going to become more difficult as your baby bump grows.

Working in an environment where you experience pregnancy harassment or an unwillingness to accommodate your needs only makes pregnancy more difficult and stressful. The good news is there are laws in place to protect moms-to-be by making the workplace a safe place.
The first of these laws, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, requires employers to treat pregnant women as they do any other temporarily disabled employees. This can be a little confusing, because this law doesn’t actually require your boss to give you time off or accommodate your pregnancy in any way.

What it does mean: If company bylaws state that accommodations will be made for other temporarily disabled employees, the same allowances must be made for expectant mothers. It’s good to keep in mind that many employers are willing to work with their pregnant employees, so make a point to talk it through with your supervisor to reach an agreement about what is best for you, your baby, and the company where you work.

Under this law, pregnant moms are also protected from being discriminated against because they are pregnant. This means that as long as they are able to perform their job duties, their employer can’t terminate them or require them to take a leave from their position simply because they are pregnant.

The second of these laws is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This is a law that protects the jobs of employees who need to take time off to care for someone in their family. In the case of the birth of a child, the new parent’s job is to be held for up to 12 weeks while the mother cares for and bonds with her new baby.
Unfortunately, the FMLA is an unpaid leave. When it comes to maternity leave, the United States has a ways to go before it is on par with other developed countries. In fact, out of 41 developed countries offering maternity leave to employees, we are the only country that does not offer any form of paid parental leave, according to the Pew Research Center.

Being pregnant certainly doesn’t mean your career has to come to a screeching halt. Except in the case of unique pregnancy complications, most women can carry on with their typical job responsibilities.
Of course, don’t hold yourself to the standards of Wonder Woman. If you have any concerns that your job is becoming a hazard to your health or the health of your growing baby, visit with your doctor and your employer about potential changes that can be made to your job until your new baby arrives.

Tags 50026476, hemingway, parenting