| Part of the fun of editing wellness stories is that they often have information that speaks to me personally. This past week, I found several interesting tidbits in our content. Dietitian Cara Rosenbloom wrote about research showing which diet is best for preventing heart disease. The answer is a whole-food, plant-based diet. (This bears out Michael Pollan's famous counsel from more than a decade ago: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants," which, more and more, seems to be all the diet advice you need.) In the article, Cara mentions that intermittent fasting also can be good for your heart, citing this report. I had heard that before, but it was a good reminder that there are other reasons besides weight loss to stay on my intermittent fasting program. In a story from freelance writer Angela Haupt about how not to be late, I recognized myself in the "crisis maker" personality type who has difficulty being on time. I need a deadline to accomplish almost anything – which I suspect is the case for many journalists – and sometimes can't get myself going until that deadline looms. The tip: Set artificially early deadlines. "You're fooling yourself, but we do lots of things to fool ourselves, and it works," an expert said. I tend to create very precise up-to-the-edge deadlines, but next time I have to be somewhere at a certain moment, I'm going to try building in more time. In a story by wellness reporter Allyson Chiu about what your resting heart rate can tell you about your health (something but not everything, and you shouldn't obsess about it), I learned that wearables like my Apple watch are better at tracking that resting rate than at determining heart rate during exercise. But the really mind-blowing things I discovered came from a story by writer and personal trainer Pam Moore about how to treat and prevent chafing: Eight to 10 percent of people are allergic to Neosporin, including people who haven't had an issue with it before. (If you need a topical antibiotic, better to get a prescription from a doctor.) And gels, lotions and creams have a relatively high alcohol content, which makes them sting. You should use an emollient instead, but not Aquaphor, which contains – who knew – lanolin. These are all facts I wish I'd been aware of years ago, as the mother of a kid with eczema. Of course, there is much more information in all of these stories, and, hopefully, you will find tidbits that especially apply to you as well. Take care! |
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