I’m lying on my back on a massage table, hands overhead, and Camille Pipolo, an energy healer, is tugging on my arms. No matter that I’m squeezing them as hard as I can, the backs of my hands firmly pressed together, or that my triceps are strong: When Pipolo pulls them gently, they drop like a stone. “See that?” she says. I see it, sure, but I haven’t a clue what it means....
In a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from the University of Exeter in England have found that higher levels of tungsten in the body may double a person’s risk for stroke. According to lead author Dr. Jessica Tyrrell, these findings signal a significant need for more research into this mostly unstudied metal. “In regards to the effects of our exposure to tungsten, we don’t know much about it, because there are limited studies,” Dr....
Aside from clear red flags like red, itchy skin, concerns about the long-term safety of fragrances sprayed on skin—and later absorbed by the bloodstream—are leading many to avoid the ingredients altogether. Fragrance-Free and Unscented: DecodedUnfortunately, skipping scent is easier said than done. In some cases, products labeled “unscented” contain fragrance not to create scent, but to mask a strong odor in the formula, according to the American Academy of Dermatology....
According to the study, healthy women in their early 60’s who drank a couple of diet beverages a day were 30% more likely to have a heart attack, and 50% more likely to die from heart-related disease than women who rarely sip diet drinks. But there’s a little more to the story, says lead study author Ankur Vyas, MD, a fellow at Cardiovascular Diseases at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics....
In the study, researchers had one group of people change their gait so they unknowingly walked in a “sad” style—a slumped posture with shoulders hanging forward and little arm swing. The other group took on a “happy” style—more arm movement and an up-and-down bounce. After taking a memory test, the sad walkers remembered significantly more negative words than those who moved with a happy stride. MORE: What Your Sleep Position Says About You This memory bias is important because it plays a big role in establishing and maintaining depressive conditions, says study author Nikolaus Troje, PhD....
“Go the old-fashioned way,” Cellini suggests. Avoid minute rice and instant oatmeal, and cook beans from dried rather than buying them canned. The pre-processing that makes these foods more convenient also speeds the rate at which their sugars enter your bloodstream. Fruits you eat whole tend to have a lower glycemic index than those you peel. So put blueberries instead of bananas in your cereal, and slice apple instead of melon for a snack....
That’s right: If natural vanilla flavor is on the ingredient list of your ice cream, there’s a chance that you may indeed be eating beaver butt goop. The FDA allows pretty much any type of flavoring found in nature to be listed as “natural flavor” on ingredient labels, including edible bark, roots, and many animal products. Here’s a look at some common disgusting “natural” substances and how to avoid them....
[sidebar]Researchers from Bangor University in the United Kingdom recruited 24 volunteers who exercised at least twice a week to complete high-intensity cycling tests. Half the group recited self-talk statements, like “feeling good,” “you’re doing well,” and “push through this,” and the other half didn’t. Not only did the results show self-talkers could cycle longer—12 minutes 30 seconds compared to 10 minutes 37 seconds for the other group—but they also found that they perceived their effort to be significantly lower....
While it means different things to different people, the root of it all is the effort to consume as many whole foods as possible that have undergone as little processing as possible—foods that look and taste like they came fresh out of the ground or from a tree, a farm, the ocean, or even someone’s kitchen, not like they’re fresh off a factory conveyor. Get started with one perfect day of clean eating with these recipes from Prevention’s new book Eat Clean, Stay Lean and see what a difference this way of eating can make to your body—and taste buds!...
While it may feel like you’re always making conscious, deliberate decisions about what you eat, the truth is all of us are influenced dramatically by factors we’re not even aware of. You’ve probably heard that the size of your plate can subtly nudge you to eat more (or less), but there are dozens of other triggers that can push even healthy eaters away from making good choices. Here are three super common habits that may be sabotaging your efforts to eat less:1....
MORE: Do You Just End Up Peeing Out All The Vitamins You Take? But not all vitamins are water-soluble, and the ones that are lipid-soluble, meaning they like to hang around in your body’s fat, don’t get flushed out. Instead, if you take too much of a lipid-soluble vitamin over a few weeks to a month, they sit in the liver and can build up to toxic levels, causing problems ranging from weak bones to liver damage, according to Katherine Zeratsky, a registered dietician nutritionist at the Mayo Clinic....
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, set out to investigate the effects of triclosan—a germ-killing compound in personal care and household products such as anti-bacterial soaps, toothpaste, makeup, mouthwash, trash bags and bedding—in a series of animal studies. Their findings? Even moderate triclosan exposure significantly reduced muscular strength and cardiac function among mice, and slowed the swimming pace of fish. While more research is needed to show whether triclosan has similar effects on people, the findings are certainly alarming....
Okay, maybe you don’t need supplements—if you are among the 7% of women who never skip meals or eat ice cream for dinner. For the other 93% of us, supplements are a great way to fill in what’s missing from our diets and may even protect against disease. But with all the pills and potions on the market, what are the best vitamins for women? Prevention has demystified the issue with this complete guide....
This tongue-in-cheek tutorial from JP Sears suggests that gluten intolerance can be as much a learned way-of-life as it is a medical condition. If you’re ready to retreat to your moral high ground and assert dominance over your sickly wheat-loving counterparts, watch closely:
The research: Yale University investigators cross-referenced local temperature and dew point data with 134,510 ischemic stroke hospitalizations taken from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample Database. They found that days with extreme temperature and dew point fluctuations yielded higher incidence of stroke hospitalization—regardless of region, season, or patient factors like high blood pressure or diabetes. Stroke occurs when blood flow to a part of the brain stops. What it means: Whether it’s very cold or very hot, humid weather can cause significant stress on the body....
Bun Lift Triceps Dips Bicep Preacher Curls Spinal Balance Pilates Abdominal Crunch
At that point, it can take a serious—or even scary—wake-up call to jolt you back into reality and help you see just how insane things have become. The details of that moment look different for everyone, but they always have one thing in common: They motivate you to make a major change so you can start feeling better. These women have been there. Though each went though her own trying experience, they all had to hit rock bottom before they realized how toxic their situations had become....
