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There’s been talk recently about the possibility of condomless forms of male birth control, and—according to a new study—a particular technique was found to be especially successful, meaning it could be available to men as soon as 2018.

In the study, released today, 12 male rabbits were injected with Vasalgel—a hormone-free substance that blocks sperm from leaving the vas deferens during ejaculation—and 11 were found to have sperm-free semen for an entire year. A small human study is slated to begin later in 2016, followed by a larger one in 2017. If all goes as planned, researchers believe the method is around two years away from becoming a viable, legal, surgery-free birth-control option for men—the first of its kind.

Even better, Vasalgel’s developers are confident the injection could last longer than 12 months, which is good news for any man who’s less than willing to have regular injections administered to his penis, but it can be easily reversed by a second injection that flushes the gel out and unblocks the vas deferens, allowing sperm to flow through semen again. Exciting stuff!

MORE: Why Are Millennials Ditching Hormonal Birth Control

Negin Mirsalehi

Whether you’re in the midst of trying to salvage your strands after a misguided cut or are just after a new look, you may have a hard time patiently waiting for your hair to grow. (We’ve been there.)

Luckily, unlike the watched pot that never boils, putting effort into your hair growth can yield actual results, particularly when it comes to strategic eating. Here are eight foods that actually make your hair grow faster, recommended by Harvard and Yale Medical School-trained nutritionist Jayson Calton, PhD, and licensed nutritionist and fitness chef Mira Calton, CN.

Salmon
This fish is loaded with the strong hair supporters like vitamin D and protein, and it also contains omega-3 fatty acids that promote hair growth by keeping your scalp healthy. A win-win.

Yellow peppers
Yellow bell peppers have nearly five and a half times more vitamin C than oranges (341 milligrams, as opposed to 63). This is very good news for your locks—vitamin C is an antioxidant that strengthens the hair shaft and hair follicles, as well as prevents breakage.

Oysters
Zinc deficiency has been known to cause hair loss and poor scalp conditions, and oysters are loaded with zinc—just three ounces contains 493-percent of your daily value. But not just any oysters will do: Steer clear of the ones caught in the Gulf of Mexico, which may contain unusually high levels of Cadmium due to the 2010 BP oil spill.

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Eggs
Eggs are an excellent source of those aforementioned omega-3s, and they are also contain biotin (which many people trying to grow their hair take in supplement form). But be aware: It’s not the “healthier” egg white that will make your hair long and beautiful, it’s the yolk. Eating too many egg whites can actually block the absorption of biotin into the body, causing a depletion of this micronutrient.

Sunflower seeds
Just a few little seeds can supply you with an abundance of vitamin E, which will enhance blood flow to the scalp and promote faster hair growth.

Sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are loaded with beta carotene, the precursor for vitamin A that not only promotes a healthy scalp but effectively promotes hair growth, too. Choose foods loaded with beta carotene over supplementing with high doses (over 2500 milligrams) of vitamin A from retinol, since it can be toxic at very high levels.

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Avocados
Due to their high concentration of essential fatty acids naturally found in skin cells (which help to keep your skin smooth and supple), avocados are an age-old beauty secret. When topically applied to the hair and scalp, they have the added ability to stimulate collagen and elastin production. Mix a little avocado with sour cream (which contains lactic acid to help exfoliate dead skin and clean up buildup on the scalp) and apply to your hair and scalp for about ten minutes before washing off.

Almonds
These nuts will make your hair grow faster and thicker due to their high biotin content. One cup contains nearly one-third of your daily requirement. You should be able to see the results in a month or two of adding them to your diet.

MORE: 101 Healthy Hair Tips to Remember

Candace Napier

Say what you will about all those proven benefits, but the fact remains that straight-up meditation might not be for everyone. Sure, everyone is capable of doing it, but if you don’t get excited about the prospect of sitting upright with your eyes closed trying not to think for any amount of time, you probably aren’t going to. And that’s fine!

Regardless of whether or not meditation evangelists are willing to admit it, you can, in fact, achieve that level of Zen without just sitting there. Here, eight STYLECASTER editors share their personal favorite ways to get meditative, from exercise and cooking to online shopping and sheet masks. See? So many different ways to bliss out.

Tennis

“Nothing—and I mean absolutely nothing—is as stress-relieving as an hour or two running around the (preferably clay) court. Not only is it incredible cardio, but tennis is a sport contingent on the focused and present mind, so it forces you to be present and concentrated versus circling around the 10,000 other mindless things that seemingly creep into the mind on any given day.” (Jessica Teves, editor in chief)

Cooking

“Mine is a three-way split among playing solitaire, applying makeup for no reason, and cooking. However, I’ve been turning to cooking more and more lately when faced with stress or anxiety. Bad day at work? It’s all in the past, thanks to my shrimp tacos with fresh guac recipe! Bickering with my husband/mom/Verizon rep about something stupid? There’s a homemade tzatziki for that! Too much responsibility piling up at once? Googling “difficult recipes” can help (which, by the way, is how I learned to make a shaky coq au vin). I find that grocery shopping, followed by meticulously sticking to a recipe while blasting music, takes my mind off whatever’s bothering me. Plus, there’s a meal (and wine!) at the end.” (Perrie Samotin, editorial director)

Crafting

“I was raised on Klutz activity books and basically spent my childhood making friendship bracelets and clay figurines, so it makes perfect sense that I find Zen in any sort of crafting kit I can get my hands on. I recently went on a jewelry-making spree with Project DIY’s accessory kits and made myself a handful of statement necklaces, a punk-inspired brooch and a tassel keychain that gets me serious side eye from my doorman, but I love the fruits of my labor. And, unlike my kiddy creations, I actually use the things I make, so my relaxation time is also productive. Win-win.” (Cristina Velocci, managing editor)

Long walks

“I make a point of walking home whenever I can after work, while listening to a podcast or calling my parents or friends back home in Australia. Chatting and walking makes the 45-minute stroll go by quickly, and it helps me relax before I get home.” (Jasmine Garnsworthy, editor)

More cooking

“I like to cook dinner a couple nights a week if I get home from work/gym/events on time—it’s usually worth it for the stress-relief factor even if I end up eating at, like, 10:30 p.m. It’s not necessarily a Zen activity (like when I sliced my finger open cutting mushrooms the other day), but it’s a good way to get my mind off of anything I’m stressing about for an hour or so. Plus, unlike meditation meditation, you can drink wine while doing it.” (Hilary George-Parkin, fashion editor)

Cleaning

“Oddly enough, when I want to take my mind off of anxiety-inducing issues, there’s nothing more soothing than when I reorganize my shoes or scrub my bathroom from top to bottom.” (Cady Lang, social media editor)

Online shopping

“It’s really bad, actually. My favorite thing to do is search multiple sites (I definitely have my favorites) and sort everything from low price to high price. It makes me feel calmer, even if I don’t end up ordering anything.” (Kristen Bateman, associate editor)

A good nap

“I like to put on a sheet mask and lie down for a 30-minute nap! Life feels better after a nap. I like to keep sheet masks chilled in the fridge, so I’ll peel it off my face when it’s all dried up at room temperature.” (Jinnie Lee, creative producer)

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When I think of celebrities famous for their outrageously healthy habits, Miranda Kerr is one of the first who comes to mind, outdone only by Gwyneth and her Goop-approved lifestyle. I actually once met the Aussie model at an event for Swarovski (she’s the brand’s spokesmodel) in Sydney, and remember being mesmerized by the way her skin quite literally glowed—glowed, I tell you—while I shook her hand. Yes, I’m sure hair, makeup, and some very favorable genetics had something to do with that, but I’ve remained convinced that Kerr’s eating something or exercising in a way that I’m definitely not.

Since then, I’ve spent many mindless Sunday afternoons trawling her Instagram for clues, and typing her name and “food diary” into Google, but still, I needed to know more. Because, sure, she might literally be paid to maintain that face and body full time, but Kerr also has a son, and runs a huge (organic, obvs) beauty company while juggling international spokesmodel gigs and posing for international fashion campaigns, such as Givenchy Spring 2016. So the woman can’t be possibly lying around getting placenta facials all the time or spending five hours at the gym every day.

Her latest gig is with Swarovski, appearing in the jewelry brand’s Mother’s Day campaign, and I finally got the opportunity to ask her exactly what it is she does to maintain that body and complexion—also, how it is she looks like this while jogging. Here’s what she told me.

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For breakfast I had: Avocado on gluten-free toast and a cup of earl grey tea, which I have at 7 a.m.

For lunch I had: Grilled wild salmon with my salad—spinach, fennel, green olives, tomato, and carrot all finely chopped up with lemon juice dressing, at around 12.30 p.m.

For dinner I had: Roast chicken and vegetables and a glass of organic wine at 6.30 p.m.

Today I snacked on: Mary’s flaxseed crackers with goat cheese and Herbamare salt.

The one thing I would never eat is: Anything that’s genetically modified or not farmed ethically.

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My all-time favorite workout is: Dancing.

My favorite healthy restaurant is: Amaranth in NYC, I love their salads and organic chicken paillard.

My favorite healthy snack is: Seaweed.

The ingredients you’ll find in my favorite smoothie are: I make a green power smoothie that is alkalizing, nutrient-dense, and high in vitamins and minerals. Typically my recipe is: the water from a young fresh coconut (or half a glass of coconut water), half a glass goat or almond milk, one tablespoon of acai powder, one tablespoon of goji berries, one tablespoon of spirulina, one tablespoon of raw cacao powder, one tablespoon of maca powder, one tablespoon of chia seeds, one tablespoon of raw vegan protein powder, one tablespoon of coconut oil. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and enjoy.

I start my day by: Meditating.

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Each week, I usually work out: Four or five times, and that involves Pilates, yoga, swimming, ballet, and resistance training.

Some of the fitness blogs and websites I follow include: Ballet Beautiful, ModelFit, and KORA Organics Spread the Light Blog.

The three ingredients you’ll always find in my kitchen are: Coconut oil, lemons, and garlic.

My signature healthy dish is: Grilled fish or chicken with a finely chopped salad—simple, clean, and nutritious!

The health app I couldn’t live without is: Swarovski Fitness Tracker—it measures your daily activities and quality of sleep and syncs wirelessly with my smartphone.

The top three songs on my workout playlist right now are: Rihanna featuring Drake: “Work,” Yo Gotti: “Down in the DM,” and Meghan Trainor: “No.”

The best part of my job is: No two days are ever the same.

My perfect Mother’s Day involves: Relaxing at home with my son, having breakfast in bed with him, and then getting outdoors to go for a hike, ride our bikes, or for a swim.

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Recently, in my travels across the Internet, I discovered Alisa Vitti’s website, Flo Living, and was instantly fascinated by her story. This woman suffered from polycystic ovarian syndrome—I was once hospitalized for a ruptured ovarian cyst, and it isn’t fun—and says she cured all of her symptoms simply by changing the way she eats. She published a book about it called WomanCode, which has been in the top 50 best-selling women’s health books of all time since it was published (NBD!); has a Web series about her work on Lifetime; and has been featured in everything from “The Dr. Oz Show” and shows on CBS and Fox to Shape and Women’s Health.

Vitti’s known for teaching women to “cycle sync,” (her trademarked term) which basically is when you eat foods at certain times of the month to avoid symptoms such as bloating, acne, mood swings, fatigue, and insomnia. “The concept involves specifically eating foods that balance the estrogen fluctuation each week of your cycle, because some weeks you have higher concentration of estrogen than others, and you want to eat to help offset that.”

Within four days of following her program, women can lose anywhere from four to 10 pounds, and while weight loss isn’t the goal here, that’s a pretty convincing sign that her system’s working. When it comes to your period, you can see results in the first cycle simply by adjusting what you eat: “People feel results in the first couple of weeks and certainly the first month; they feel more energized, their mood is better, within that first cycle they’ll notice PMS symptoms are fewer. Women who come to us with PCOS, heavy periods, or missed periods will start to see that within two to three cycles the quality of those things aren’t an issue.”

Vitti told me that just about everything in our bodies is governed by hormonal function, but most women don’t have a lifestyle that supports that. “We don’t take hormones into consideration when we’re planning our diet or exercise, which means we can accidentally be eating and exercising and making choices that work against our natural flow of what our body is trying to do hormonally.” And while there’s a ton of information on her website (including this free four-day hormone detox), and her intensive three-month programs are available starting at $297, I asked Vitti to share some of her best (free) tips right here. Here’s what you need to know.

Even mild PMS could be a sign something’s wrong with your hormones.

The signs that something could be messed up with your endocrine system could be so subtle, you hardly even think it’s abnormal, however even these symptoms could be fixable—and if let untreated have the potential to manifest into more serious illnesses. “Right at the beginning, it might just look like mild PMS, where you have a headache or break out a little before your period, or feel like your jeans don’t fit ahead of your cycle, make no mistake that these symptoms are already an indicator of estrogen and progesterone imbalance.”

Research shows untreated mild forms of PMS predisposing women after menopause to the diseases of inflammation; diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and dementia. “It can then snowball quite quickly, and you can quickly find yourself at a gynecologist’s office being diagnosed with a condition like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), the one that I had, or fibroids, or endometriosis.”

Yes, you should be eating organic food.

Forget every other eye-rolling reason you’ve heard for eating organic food, because the way pesticides impact your endocrine symptoms should be reason enough to ditch them. “Pesticides in your food disrupt the bacterial balance of your micro-biome,” Vitti explained. “It’s the synthetic estrogen component of the pesticides, but also how pesticides destroy our innate ability to break down estrogen that leaves us vulnerable to hormonal damage.” Essentially, when you eat nonorganic food, it impairs the body’s ability to break down estrogen—and high estrogen levels are often responsible for all of those symptoms we spoke about earlier. Coupled with that is the fact that pesticides themselves are xenoestrogenic, which means you’re basically eating a type of xenohormone that imitates estrogen, and you have a combination that can wreak havoc on your endocrine system.

Quit the juice detoxes and dieting.

When Vitti works with a woman wanting to get pregnant, she usually focus on a diet that balances her hormones, while reducing inflammation and stress, and also addressing any deficiencies she might have caused by overdieting. “We need to boost micronutrient levels that have often been depleted from years of dieting or overexercising, or too much detoxing or juice cleanses,” she explained, adding: “All of these things we do trying to stay healthy can undermine our endocrine function, our hormonal balance and fertility.”

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Eat raw fruits and vegetables during ovulation.

Your estrogen levels are highest when you ovulate, which is usually a one- or two-day event, 14 days before your period, or in the middle of a 28-day cycle. Because of this, Vitti recommends eating raw foods and herbs such as cilantro that will help your body to process and eliminate the estrogen and prevent mood swings, bloating, acne, fatigue, and insomnia.

“In the ovulatory phase, I recommend that women really focus on eating as many raw fruits and vegs as they feel comfortable, Vitti told us. The raw foods provide the liver with all of the needed micronutrients to clear estrogen out of the body quickly, while the roughage and fiber from these raw fruits and vegetables help your body with the second part: eliminating it through the bowel. “Your ovulatory week is a time to have your raw smoothies and nice salads that really help offset the estrogen,” she suggested. Your estrogen levels actually stay elevated for a 10-to-12-day period after ovulation, so it’s a good idea to also keep up the raw fruits and vegetables during these days.

Eat quinoa and sweet potato before your period.

The luteal phase is what happens after you ovulate—unless you become pregnant—and lasts about 14 days, ending just before you get your period. During this time, it’s all about eating B vitamins that help your body to make progesterone, a hormone that helps offset estrogen and stave off PMS.

Vitti explained that if you find that you’re craving carbohydrates during this time, it’s usually because your body needs more of these B vitamins. By failing to address the deficiency before a craving sets in, you’ll fall into the common habit of bingeing on fries or a burger (sound familiar?). “Cravings are your body calling out for specific micronutrients. If you’re craving chocolate, chances are good you’re a little deficient in magnesium; if you’re craving carbs, chances are good you’re missing some B vitamins; and cravings for cheesy, fried stuff, suggest you’re deficient in some essential fatty acid.” Vitti said.

To get ahead of the cravings and avoid PMS symptoms, she recommends eating healthy amounts of cooked quinoa or sweet potato every day during this phase. “Get these things in in a good quantity so you have no cravings, your energy is good, and you can have a symptom-free PMS week.”

If estrogen is low, eat soy products.

Low estrogen is more common in women over 35, and could cause low libido, hot flashes, or vaginal dryness. Vitti suggested in cases when you have documented low estrogen—like, from actual lab work at the doctor’s office—this is the one instance it’s alright to use soy products. “They have to be GMO free, organic, and ideally, they’re going to be things more on the fermented side,” Vitti told us, suggesting, “Tempe is a great source of fermented soy, and wet miso paste or soy sauce. A little bit goes a long way, and it’s very high estrogenic. You don’t need to eat a lot.”

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We kind of assumed that no celebrity could outdo Gisele Bündchen and her war on nightshades when it comes to adopting bizarre habits in the name of “healthy eating.” But then we read Kourtney Kardashian’s website today and learned that the reality star drinks clarified butter for breakfast—so now there’s a tie, obviously. Gwyneth is probably sitting at home wondering why she didn’t think of saying it first.

Apparently Kardashian, 36, melts and then eats a teaspoon of ghee, a type of clarified butter that originated in India, every morning before breakfast, and then fasts for another 20 minutes, presumably to let the butter work its magic. “Ghee is the first thing I put in my body every morning,” she wrote. “I take one big teaspoon of ghee every morning and melt it on the stove in a pan and drink it out of a cute little ceramic white cup. After I take it, I don’t eat anything for 20 minutes, and then I drink a glass of water before eating food.”

Kourtney added that in her kitchen, only ghee and coconut oil are allowed: “I only cook with ghee and coconut oil and try to incorporate it into my meals as much as possible. We make French toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, basically anything we can with ghee.”

While the reality star writes that her preferred substitute can help support weight loss and is “rich in oil-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, as well as K2 and CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) antioxidants,” there are still some things to consider before you rush to Whole Foods and start throwing ghee into your eco-friendly shopping bag—like the fact is does have more saturated fat than regular butter.

“Butter typically has about 51 percent saturated fat, whereas ghee has around 72 percent saturated fat,” dietitian Marie Spano, MS, RD, CSCS, CSSD, told us, adding that eating too much saturated fat can elevate your cholesterol, and overeating the high-calorie food can lead to weight gain (a teaspoon’s safe though).

And if the whole drinking-butter-for-breakfast thing reminds you of the bulletproof coffee craze that hit last year, that’s because both operate under the idea that certain fats are good for your health—and some experts do agree that there are also benefits to eating small amounts of ghee.

Holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy, RNCP, CNP, explained that small amounts of ghee—as part of a healthy diet—can be great for your bone, skin, digestive, and cardiovascular health: “Ghee is a golden superfood. It is nutrient-dense and rich in fat-soluble nutrients like A, D, E, and K, which help your bone, skin, and cardiovascular health. It is a digestive healing food because it’s an amazing source of butyric acid, which supports the integrity of the intestinal wall.”

If you’ve ever looked at a model on the red carpet and thought, “I want to do whatever she’s doing,” you’re not alone. When it comes to hot bodies and flawless skin, supermodels like Gigi Hadid, Miranda Kerr, Kendall Jenner, and Lily Aldridge know how to make us envious. So how do they do it?

MORE: 26 Celebrities Who May Have Had Plastic Surgery

First: Genetics. No one gets to look like Gigi without winning the genetic jackpot. But even with a preprogrammed destiny to look downright flawless, supermodels usually follow strict diet and exercise routines, often prescribed by their personal trainers and nutritionists. Here, we’ve rounded up 25 weight-loss tips from models—from the creative to the crazy—that they’ve shared over the years.

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As someone who practically came out of the womb as an anxious person, I’ve learned a number of coping mechanisms that don’t include medication. I prefer natural remedies like yoga, tea, breathing techniques, or even making lists.

Until recently, though, I never realized how many apps exist to curb an anxiety—from help for generalized stress to aids for specific issues such as audio hypnotic treatments designed especially for people who have jitters when swallowing pills. Hundreds exist, and I’m all for taking advantage of that fact—we live in a digital world, so why not use iPhone apps to relieve our worries?

On top of that, I’m the kind of person who will do anything to avoid paying even a single cent for an app. So, here, five free options I found meant to relieve all kinds of uneasiness.

Pacifica’s app, asking me how I feel.

Pacifica

Pacifica focuses on daily goals. Open the app, and you’ll be prompted to choose whether you want to improve your mood, feel less stress/anxiety, feel less anxious in social situations, or live a healthier lifestyle. The app will ask you to rate how you’re feeling morning and night with optional notes to see if there’s a pattern of things that make you feel stressed or happy.

This is one of my favorite apps I discovered because of the variety of things you’re able to do with it. After documenting your mood, you can try relaxing techniques such as deep breathing, muscle relaxation, or even visualization techniques. There’s also a section to input your goals and thoughts, journal-style. And you can track your sleep, eating, and exercise habits too, since they also play a crucial role in stress and anxiety. Group boards and chats for people who experience different types of stress or just want to talk it out exist within the app too.

An example of the masterpieces you can create in attempts to soothe anxiety with the Owl Coloring Book app for adults.

Owl Coloring Book for Adults

Adult coloring books have been touted for their ability to calm nerves and relieve stress, so it’s no wonder someone created a virtual version with the same intent.

As the name suggests, there are many different owls just waiting to be electronically colored. Choose your favorite, from the elaborate to the simple, and decorate it with 14 different hues. It’s kind of mind-numbing and calming, but the disadvantage of this over a real coloring book is that it keeps everything neatly in the lines for you. Therefore, there’s less of an intense focus.

Some of the specific hypnotic audio programs offered on I Can Be Free’s app, in attempt to cure anxiety related to everything from toilets to phone calls.

I Can Be Free

This app focuses on self-hypnosis to stop anxiety, though there are also other options on the app for people trying to overcome bad habits, lose weight, or even quit addictions. Most of the specific treatments cost an extra $2.99, but there are some really detailed ones there: options for anxiety related to being alone, toilets (!!!), sharks, highways, needles, and more. Choose what you’re after and the sound you’re interested in (ranging from silence to clouds) and fill out your profile. After hitting play, your phone will darken and a male voice will start instructing you to relax, think deeper thoughts, and focus on deep breathing techniques.

For some reason, the guy’s voice bothered me, but it reminded me of yoga sessions in terms of a low, deep voice telling you how to get relaxed. It’s a really interesting concept, and perhaps it could work well for people who are into this type of thing. I imagine that it would be good to listen to while commuting to work, especially in a busy city like New York.

A chat started with one of the volunteer “listeners” on 7 Cups’ app.

7 Cups

Consider this app a personal therapist of sorts. You can use it to connect with and talk to “anonymous, trained volunteer listeners,” or just try simple calming activities, which range from emotional wellness tests to documenting thoughts in a “gratitude journal” or watching brief, uplifting videos.

There’s also a separate community with threads on anxiety and stress and how to cope, which users can connect and respond to. If you’re someone who likes to vent, I could see how this app could help. I personally wasn’t sure what to say once connected to a stranger across the world, though.

Some calming sound options from Relax Melodies’ app.

Relax Melodies

According to reviews, the users of the app use it both for falling asleep and relieving stress and anxiety. You can choose soothing sounds from rivers, oceans, rain, birds, thunderstorms, cats, and more. The most interesting part? You can actually layer the sounds, and they’ll play all together. The app lets you select up to 12 sounds at a time. So, if you’re traveling somewhere new and feeling anxious, you could essentially re-create the sounds of your home by selecting things like city ambience, oscillating fan, rainy day—there are tons of options.

The urban rain sound is particularly realistic. I’ll definitely be using this app the next time I’m far away from home. In fact, I wish I knew it existed when I moved to New York City for college!

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Brace yourself, because it’s officially time to prepare for spring, and and inevitable onslaught of increasingly skimpy outfits. Crop tops, we see you! Around this time, there are few feelings less fun than being bloated and puffy for no apparent reason—so with that in mind, we chatted with health, food, and fitness experts to find out their tips for clearing up your digestive issues, and feeling less bloated, fast.

Keep scrolling to start learning—and keep in mind that if you’re feeling really uncomfortable, you should probably just head straight to your doctor’s office.

Avoid “sugar alcohol” in packaged foods: “There are a lot of ways companies try to make unhealthy food less unhealthy; sugar alcohols are an example. You’ll see them listed as an ingredient on snacks marketed as having a low impact on blood sugar. Sugar alcohols [like sorbitoln and maltitol] are a type of low-digestible carbohydrates (LDCs) added for flavoring but aren’t absorbed by the small intestine. If you’re trying to manage your blood sugar or calories, this can sound desirable; unfortunately, it’s not without side effects.”—Dr. Edward Group, chiropractor and naturopath

Take a digestive herb: “Certain herbs help to relax the muscles of the digestive tract and aid gas and bloating by stimulating gastric secretions. My favorite three remedies include fennel, mint, and citrus peel, and peppermint oil, which is actually a licensed drug for irritable bowel syndrome in Europe. Look out for these herbs in teas and take a cup after eating and throughout the day. I suggest making a strong cup (two tea bags per cup) and putting a plate on top of the mug to trap in the essential oils. You can also try taking a peppermint oil capsule 300 mg three times a day.”—Daniela Turley, medicinal herbalist

Cut back on sodium: “Consuming excessive amounts of sodium—as commonly found in packaged, canned, frozen, and fast food—can cause the body to retain water, resulting in temporary fluid weight gain and feelings of  ‘puffiness’ or bloat. To avoid excessive sodium consumption, opt for foods that are closest to their natural state (such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains), limit the consumption of prepackaged foods that contain high levels of sodium, and if possible avoid adding additional salt to food before eating.”—Jessica Matthews, ACE personal trainer, health coach, and yoga instructor

Drink water at work: “Leave a water bottle in sight throughout the day, so you don’t forget to drink at least three liters of water. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel! You’ll have more energy, decreased inflammation, and all the weight-loss benefits.”–Anna Kaiser, celebrity personal trainer

Eat sauerkraut: “I love fermented foods and strongly recommend them to all of my coaching clients. When I started eating sauerkraut and other fermented foods, so many of my digestive health issues like bloating started to disappear (as well as my strongest sweet cravings!).”—Robyn Youkilis, certified health coach from  Institute for Integrative Nutrition and author of Go with Your Gut

Replace coffee with green tea: “Replace your afternoon coffee with as much iced green tea (using stevia as the optional sweetener) as you’d like. It will help decrease the dreaded bloat, bump up your metabolism naturally, stave off hunger, and keep you from feeling super hungry when blood sugar drops in the evening.”–Anna Kaiser, celebrity personal trainer

Slow down when you eat: “When you’re feeling stressed, upset, or rushed, your nervous system goes into fight-or-flight mode. Stress hormones are high and blood flow to your gut is reduced, which makes your digestive fire weaker and your digestion slower. As food is not properly digested, fermentation and bloating often occur. To avoid this, always eat in a quiet environment. Sit down and take a few deep belly breaths. Never eat standing, at your desk, or while checking your phone.”—Lee Holmes, holistic nutritionist

Eat charcoal: “Take an activated charcoal supplement before eating.”—Dr. Edward Group, chiropractor and naturopath

Try a dairy detox: “Eliminate all dairy products for a few days and assess the difference—this might be the source of bloating if you are lactose intolerant. Even a splash of milk in your morning coffee can make you feel bloated all day.”—Jill de Jong, Ford model and health coach

Stop chewing gum: “Chewing gum leads to swallowing air, which can cause bloating, it’s as simple as that. Plus, sugar-free gums are usually packed with sugar alcohol, like maltitol, sorbitol and xylitol, which are notorious for causing gas.”—Lee Holmes, holistic nutritionist

Exercise your abs: “Strong and toned intestinal muscles are necessary for efficient digestive contractions (i.e., not bloating), and besides eating a healthy diet, abdominal exercise (hello, Pilates!) is very important for keeping the intestines strong.”—Heather Andersen, New York Pilates founder

Take a probiotic: “Probiotic bacteria reduce the harmful bacteria in your body, helping to prevent infections in the digestive tract and reduce inflammation.”—Vanessa Fitzgerald, Indie Fresh nutritionist

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Ditch soda: “Another contributor to bloating is fizzy drinks, as the fizz can get caught in our digestive tract.”—Sophie Gray, personal trainer

Chew your food: “We pay so much attention to what we eat, but so many of us totally overlook the how, which is just as important. Food that cannot be digested—anything you swallow that isn’t chewed thoroughly—is not necessarily easily eliminated, which results in bloating, weight gain, and inflammation. When you chew your food until it becomes liquid, you’ll feel full for longer and your stomach will likely be flatter.”—Robyn Youkilis, certified health coach from Institute for Integrative Nutrition and author of Go with Your Gut

Switch up your workout: “If you are used to working out in the morning, try doing it in the evening before dinner, or vice versa. This will help challenge your body at a time it’s not used to working out and rev up your results. If you’re a diehard, go for a double.”–Anna Kaiser, celebrity personal trainer

Practice yoga: “Try the ‘pavanamuktasana’ pose and lay on your back, with both legs straight. Draw your right knee into your chest and squeeze in using both arms. Hold for 20 breaths. Got back to the start position and then reach the right arm over your head to stretch the length of the right side of the body. Hold for 10 breaths. Lay on your back, with both legs straight. Draw your left knee into your chest and squeeze in using both arms.  Hold for 20 breaths. Got back to the start position and then reach the right arm over your head to stretch the length of the left side of the body. Hold for 10 breaths. “—Bethany Lyons, founder of Lyons Den Yoga

Avoid processed foods: “If you can’t pronounce it and you are unable to count the ingredients on one hand, don’t consume it. Most or all of the soluble/fermentable fiber is removed from processed food in order to extend its’ shelf life. Sugar is also hidden in most all processed food; it destroys your colon and skyrockets cancer risk.

Consider reducing your gluten intake: “Gluten can be inflammatory and irritate the digestive system, causing bad bacteria to thrive. Eat whole foods with that have a high fiber content to help keep your digestive system moving properly.”—Vanessa Fitzgerald, Indie Fresh nutritionist

Eat more often: “Eat small, healthy meals often to avoid the bloating feeling that comes with eating large meals. Try adding peppermint tea, pineapple, parsley, and yogurts or foods containing probiotics to your daily diet, as these can all help with bloating.”—Zoe Bingley-Pullin, celebrity nutritionist and chef

Sip herbal teas: “Certain herbal teas such as peppermint and chamomile have a soothing effect on our digestion. Sipping on these teas is a great way to reduce digestive discomfort.”—Sophie Gray, personal trainer and holistic nutritionist

“Drinking ginger tea from fresh ginger root or drinking organic dandelion tea can help with bloating.”—Dr. Edward Group, chiropractor and naturopath

Slowly eat more fiber: “Increase your fiber intake gradually. If you load up and your stomach isn’t used to it, you’ll feel bloated.”—Marie Spano, dietitian

Juice with ginger: “We use ginger in our juices at Indie Fresh—it has muscle relaxant properties that can help relieve gases trapped in a constricted digestive system.”—Vanessa Fitzgerald, Indie Fresh nutritionist

Drink electrolyte-enhanced water before the gym: “Dehydration leads to constipation (especially if your diet is high in fiber), and is one of the most common causes of feeling bloated. If you have an active lifestyle and sweat it out at the gym, make sure you drink about a liter of electrolyte-enhanced fluids about 90 minutes prior to working out. Raw coconut water is a great, clean source.”—Sagan Schultz, MD/MBA in-training, and CEO of WellWell

Reduce stress in your life: “In my experience as a dietitian, whenever I have encouraged clients to manage their overall stress and implement stress-management habits such as mindfulness, meditation, and certain yoga postures to reduce cortisol (e.g. legs up the wall), they have reported marked improvements in bloating as well as irritable bowel. These are long-term lifestyle habits that will improve so many aspects of a person’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Time, practice, and patience are essential.”—Bridget Jane, dietitian

Take a digestive enzyme: “Taking a digestive enzyme before your meal is another great way to alleviate the discomfort of bloating. It helps you better digest your food, making it more easily pass through your digestive track.”—Sophie Gray, personal trainer and holistic nutritionist

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My feelings on meditation are well-documented: Regular practice can and does improve your sex life, reduce anxiety, and help you sleep. In the past two and a half years, I’ve progressed from sarcastically raising an eyebrow at the mere mention of a mantra to a person who regularly writes about the practice for a living. Over this time, meditation’s also become a full-blown wellness trend among my kale-eating, Soul Cycling, smoothie-making friends. And while the practice may seem eye-rollingly millennial, we can all agree that the next progression of that trend is mass meditation, as in, meditating with hundreds of strangers.

Entrepreneur and meditation obsessive Jesse Israel is at the forefront of the movement, modernizing mass meditation with The Big Quiet, a buzzy New York City–based event bringing together hundreds of meditators for a group practice every three months—trust me when I say this one’s primed to explode across the country in 2016.

Israel started the event nine months ago after nearly a decade in the music business: “For years, I was running a record label and found meditation as a way to deal with my own stress of daily life and running a business. After that, I wanted to find a new way to bring people together and discovered that group meditation is a powerful way for groups to connect.” He tested out the concept with a handful of friends: “I started by using a friend’s loft and inviting DJs, fashion designers, and friends together to meditate, and found that people were connecting afterward,” he explained.

Intrigued—and because I’m well and truly drinking the Kool-Aid by this point—I went along to yesterday’s the Big Quiet in NYC to see what it’s all about. While it’s always at different venues, yesterday’s (sold-out, of course) event was held at Jazz at the Lincoln Center, in a seriously impressive amphitheater with floor-to-ceiling windows. The room was filled with writers like me, entrepreneurs, fashion publicists, musicians, and the general lineup of twenty-and-thirty-somethings you’d see at any hyped-up New York event. We were introduced to a couple of rules—phones and shoes off—and then Israel kicked off the meditation by giving rookies in the room some pointers.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Yes, it’s more than a little elitist to fork out $50 to meditate with 500 other privileged strangers in one of the most impressive buildings in New York. I get it! But the experience was amazing. In addition to the 15-minute group meditation, instrumentalists led us through a “sound bath,” which is kind of like taking a nap but with music. I felt incredibly relaxed and, yes, centered (sorry!) afterward, and the effects have lasted well into the next day. It was exactly what I needed to reignite my commitment to daily meditation, which I’ve admittedly been neglecting lately. If you’re in a similar situation or want a killer introduction to meditation, I recommend trying it in a group setting. “There’s something powerful about sharing quiet. People are drawn to the experience of sharing something so unique with a big group of people,” Israel explained to me.

I reached out to meditation guru Gabrielle Bernstein for a little insight into why mass meditation is becoming so popular among millennials. She explained that it can help motivate you to practice more regularly and can supercharge the regular effects of solo meditation. “Meditating with a group can help your connection and commitment to the practice. It’s likely that you’ll sit longer and be less likely to pick up your phone to check the time or get distracted,” she explained. “The group’s energetic resonance can also deepen your meditation because the alpha brain waves become synchronized. This is what we call ‘coherence.’ When there’s coherence of the brain waves, it causes other people to receive the same properties in their subconscious mind, which heightens the meditative experience of the group.”

Israel said the Big Quiet does have plans to expand across the country and even internationally, so keep your eye on the website to find out when an event is coming to a city near you. Or, you know, grab a group of friends and meditate—for free—together.

Heather Christo

We’ve long awaited the day that a diet of chocolate, wine, coffee, and cheese could help us reach our fitness goals rather than steer us away from them entirely, but short of serious genetic engineering, we always assumed we’d be SOL—at least in our lifetimes.

But wait! Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and author of The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat, says that there’s something big we rarely take into consideration when plotting our approach to eating to lose weight. The microbes in our guts have way more to do with our bodies than we give them credit for—probably not a great idea, considering that the microbes outnumber our own cells by ten to one.

Spector argues that every individual has a completely different set of microbes that “influence processes in our bodies, including how much we weigh,” according to The Independent.

Professor Spector believes that most diets fail to promote weight loss because calorie-counting and eliminating food groups “disregard the vital role that gut microbes play.” He writes in The Diet Myth, “Our narrow, blinkered view of nutrition and weight as a simple energy-in and energy-out phenomenon and our failure to account for our microbes have been the main reasons for the miserable failure of diets and nutritional advice.” Bold choice of words, sir!

Spector’s recommendation for nurturing those microbes in a way that will enable us to lose weight? Chocolate, wine, coffee, and cheese. Chocolate, wine, and coffee contain polyphenols, antioxidants that feed the microbes and allow them to reproduce, and cheese contains “a wide variety of microbes including bacteria, yeasts, and fungi, and hundreds of species plus thousands of known and unknown strains.”

As much as we’d be delighted to subsist entirely on red wine and gruyere, that’s not quite how it works—they’re all best in moderation. Avoiding heavily processed food and maintaining a varied diet with a strong focus on healthy bacteria is still the right way to go … and a little bit of chocolate, wine, coffee, and cheese here and there.

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As of earlier this year, what’s become even more popular than our obsession with low-fat diets (at least according to Google Trends) is our infatuation with quitting sugar. And while I’ve seen enough nutritionists, herbalists, and health coaches in my time to know low-fat diets are complete BS, there seems to be some merit to the idea of cutting out sugar.

The woman who made me question my sugar-eating habits is New York Times best-selling author, Instagram sensation, and activist Sarah Wilson. Like a lot of wellness influencers, Wilson became an industry name after treating an illness by adjusting her lifestyle naturally. She suffered from an autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) and was told by nutritionists to quit eating sugar to help alleviate her symptoms. She writes that she was a “covert addict,” convincing herself that because she ate “healthy sugars,” she wouldn’t be affected. “[I would eat] honey in my chai tea, dark chocolate every afternoon, and sweet treats after dinner,” Wilson writes on her website (sound familiar!?), adding, “But I soon learned, sugar is sugar, whether it comes from a beehive or a sugar cane field.”

After cutting out all sugar, Wilson lost weight, no longer experiences 3 p.m. slumps in energy, and reports being able to manage her disease much better—she’s still sugar-free even five years later. She’s since released an eight-week guide that includes meal plans and shopping lists, recipes, community support, and a video to help other people wean themselves off sugar too. The guide promises to help followers drop pounds; improve their sleeping patterns; feel more energetic; and have clearer skin, better moods, and a greater ability to concentrate.

Dr Lanae Mullane, the director of nutrition at LifeSpan Medicine, explained that the benefit to limiting sugar is improved glycemic control (stable blood sugar), which is fundamental for feeling good and for promoting long-term health. “Achieving glycemic control improves brain function and body composition and prevents accelerated aging,” she said. Basically, when your blood sugar crashes and skyrockets after eating sweet food, there’s an immediate effect on brain function, which “can lead to symptoms like fatigue, poor concentration, and anxiety,” Dr. Mullane explained. “Limiting sugar is one of the quickest ways to optimize your brain power and energy level.”

When it comes to your weight, consuming excess sugar can lead to what experts call “impaired glucose tolerance” (the inability to properly metabolize carbohydrates) and diabetes. “Instead of converting glucose into energy, you store it as fat, particularly in the midsection. Limiting sugar is an effective strategy for improving your body composition and preventing diabetes,” she explained. Seeing as improved concentration and more energy are both things I would like for myself—and the fact that there’s also a ton of research linking sugar with heart disease, signs of aging such as wrinkles, and even cancer—I too decided to try to quit sugar.

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I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that after 14 long sugar-free days and two weekends of complete, uncharacteristic sobriety, I cracked. (Blame happy hour at my local Mexican restaurant and particularly wonderful—and sugary—margaritas.) Specifically, I’d been cutting out the dark chocolate I eat every night after dinner, sugary prosecco and cocktails after work, basically any processed foods, and fruit. In the evenings I started taking a magnesium supplement, recommended by an herbalist to help with my chocolate cravings, and while I didn’t notice any hard-core cravings for sweet food beyond the first couple of days, during that that two-week period I felt tired All. Of. The. Time. My gym attendance plummeted to an all-time low, as did my motivation to attend events, see friends, and generally act like a functioning 25-year-old. Another weird thing: I noticed that things that formerly didn’t taste sweet, were overwhelmingly sugary (even yogurt) when I tasted them again. Probably the only good outcome is that my stomach is noticeably flatter since cutting out sugar, and my chocolate cravings disappeared.

Dr. Mullane told me that symptoms like mine typically last up to a week after cutting out sugar before your body adjusts, but that you might not experience any side effects. “A small percentage of people feel tired or irritable when they drastically reduce intake, but majority of people feel remarkably better right away,” she explained, adding that because I exercise often, I might not need to quit sugar at all. “Small amounts of sugar can be beneficial within a certain context. Individuals who have good glycemic control and exercise regularly tend to metabolize sugar efficiently. Having small amounts of sugar or a dessert on occasion can make your diet more appetizing and prevent feelings of deprivation, thereby promoting healthy eating for a lifetime.

Now, I stick to a (much easier) low-sugar diet, cutting out the sugar found in sodas, sauces, candy, processed foods, and chocolate, but succumbing to the odd sugary cocktail. If this sounds like more your jam, know that dietitian Bridget Jane assures me that there are plenty of benefits to this less-extreme lifestyle. “When people omit processed foods from their diet—especially those high in refined and added sugars, they report clearer skin, mental clarity, even energy levels, little to no cravings, weight loss, and an overall feeling of well-being. Over a longer term, I’ve witnessed people ‘reverse’ diabetes and completely correct any sign of insulin resistance.”

Of course, sugar plays a big role in our diet, so there are always risks involved with completely cutting out the food group: “Sugar at its essence is the fuel our brain and immune systems use to run. We need to make sure we are having a well-balanced diet including lots of fresh fruit and veggies and whole grains or legumes. When we provide our bodies with these whole food sources of sugar, it can do what it does naturally and extract just the right amount of sugar from these sources,” she said, adding that if you’re more active, you may be able to justify higher amounts of sugar in your diet.

If you do decide to quit sugar, be wary about eating enough food to give you energy throughout the day. “If people cut back too drastically, they may not have sufficient energy to fuel their day. It’s important to know how much fuel your body needs to run optimally and to provide wholesome sources of this,” she said.

Victoria’s Secret angels Martha Hunt and Elsa Hosk. Getty Images

Martha Hunt has more than 180 runway shows on her scorecard, walking for the likes of Balmain, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Miu Miu, and Louis Vuitton, but you probably know the 26-year-old best from her time spent dressed in lingerie and wings for Victoria’s Secret and for being besties with Taylor Swift. In fact, I believe it’s actually illegal at this point to write about the North Carolina–born model without name-checking her angel-status affiliation with the lingerie giant or using the hashtag #squad.

This week she was out in New York City, chatting to media (me!) about VS’s collection of bralettes (she says she likes this one and this one best). And, as she’s the proud owner of one outrageously phenomenal body, Hunt was also happy to share her full food and fitness plan. If you, like 1.7 million other people, follow her on Instagram, you already know Hunt spends a lot of time at the gym and uses healthy-food delivery services such as Sakara Life. While we spoke, she also told me that she eats dinner really late at night (same!), swears by one very specific style of working out, and has a winning smoothie recipe that she makes for breakfast—but more of that in the interview ahead. Read and learn!

For breakfast I had: It depends where I’m at when I wake up, but I eat as soon as I wake up. This morning it was 6 a.m., but it could be any time between that and like 11. I switch it up, but I like to do eggs, I love that, it’s my go-to. Something with protein. Or I love a smoothie.

My go-to smoothie recipe includes: Banana, coconut milk, almond butter, berries, flaxseeds.

For lunch I had: Probably around 1 p.m., I just have a salad with chicken or maybe tacos.

Wenn

For dinner I had: I actually usually eat late night, which is bad, and I should probably eat earlier. Dinner could be anything; I love sushi, I love Indian food, I love Thai food; it could be anything.

My favorite healthy snack is: I would say my smoothie.

The one thing I would never eat is: I won’t eat a lot of weird meats. I eat a lot of lean protein, rarely do I eat pork or like duck or something like that. I usually stick to fish or chicken.

When I work out I do: Body by Simone, which I’ve done a lot of lately. It depends how busy I am, but I usually work out three to four times each week. But this week I’m so busy, I’m trying to figure out when to fit it in, so hopefully I’ll get 20 minutes here, or 20 minutes there.

When I want a healthy takeout dinner, I head to: Right now I’m loving Hu Kitchen; I’ve been eating there a lot lately actually. I’m loving their grandmaster veg and the chicken tenders with aioli sauce. The broccoli’s really good too.

I start my day by: Washing my face and walking my dog. I’ve got to walk my dog before I head out the door.

The ingredients you will always find in my kitchen are: Greek yogurt, coconut water, green juice, and probably something naughty like ice cream and chips, always. It’s tough because I travel, so it’s hard to always have food in the fridge.

Wenn

My favorite activewear brand is: Victoria’s Secret Sport—they have so many good sports bras right now. Right now I’m loving the online sport bras, I think they’re really cool and they look good even with your leggings for street style and not at the gym.

The most-played song on my workout playlist right now is: I’m loving Zayn right now; there’s the new song, “She” by Zayn.

My favorite workout apps are: I’m not using any; should I? Tell me more! Sometimes because I do have to be so fit all the time, for me, personally, it’s better not to focus on calorie burning, and exact details, I’d rather just be fit to feel amazing. It’s just my personal take, otherwise I’ll think about the numbers too much.

The fitness blogs and Instagram accounts I follow are: I do see this Twitter, “Eat This Not That” I don’t know if it’s a very credible source, but they have some very funny tweets, and sometimes I don’t believe them. They’re funny! Sometimes I’m like, “Really?”

My sweet of choice is: Rice Krispies. Elsa [Hosk] was telling me that it’s also like a low-caloric treat, which I was like, “Oh, good.” I don’t like a lot of sweets, but I like Rice Krispies and ice cream. I usually like more salty food. You’ve got to live a little.

Martha Hunt and Elsa Hosk. Getty Images

Candace Napier

Just in time for festival season, scientists have released the first-ever study looking at what actually happens to your brain when you’re on LSD—and it’s fascinating.

After injecting 20 mentally and physically healthy people either with 75 micrograms of LSD each or a placebo, hooking them up to a brain scan for 75 minutes, and asking them to close their eyes, researchers discovered that volunteers on the hallucinogenic actually showed evidence of increased activity in the primary visual cortex—the region of the brain linked with sight. This suggests that LSD users (who, remember, had their eyes shut) were “seeing” without actually seeing.

The study’s lead neuroscientist Robin Carhart-Harris from Imperial College London explained that this basically offers a biological perspective on what a trip really looks like, suggesting that study volunteers were “seeing with their eyes shut.… [T]hey were seeing things from their imagination rather than from the outside world,” he said in a statement.

Also of note: Volunteers on the drug showed increased activity across the entire brain, with areas actually working in tandem that wouldn’t under typical circumstances, which researchers could say explain the drug-induced phenomenon of hallucination.

“We found that under LSD, compared to placebo, disparate regions in the brain communicate with each other when they don’t normally do so,” David Nutt, a coauthor on the study, explained to Nature.

The brain on the right is a person on LSD. Imperial College London

Nutt also explained that this finding explains the “ego dissolution” people experience on LSD—the feeling that you are melded with people and things around you, and your consciousness is bigger than just yourself. “Within some important brain networks, such as the neuronal networks that normally fire together when the brain is at rest, sometimes called the ‘default mode network,’ we saw reduced blood flow … and that neurons that normally fire together lost synchronization. That correlated with our volunteers reporting a disintegration of their sense of self, or ego. This known effect is called ‘ego dissolution’: the sense that you are less a singular entity, and more melded with people and things around you.”

A separate study that was led by one of the authors of this paper also shows—unsurprisingly—music enhances the effects of LSD. It discovered that unless you’re listening to music (Pink Floyd, perhaps?), LSD will weaken communication between the part of the brain associated with memory (the parahippocampus) and the visual cortex. However, if you’re listening to tunes while tripping, “the visual cortex receives more information from the parahippocampus, and this is associated with increases in eyes-closed imagery and personal memories,” Nutt explained to Nature.

The reason it’s taken so long for us to have this kind of insight into the effects of psychedelics is research on humans using LSD in the US has been banned since the 1960s for obvious reasons. However, this particular study was carried out in the UK, where it’s not outlawed, but highly expensive to acquire the licenses needed.

This brain scan image from the study outlines its findings pretty simply—trippy, right?

Imperial College London

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Yeast infections are one of those health issues that are often both physically uncomfortable—thanks to the itching, burning, and gross discharge—and socially awkward (holla if you’ve ever bought Monistat from a male drugstore checkout). We can obviously get over the minor embarrassment factor in order to get relief, but if you’re curious about at-home, DIY ways to soothe or prevent yeast infections, it pays to know which ones are legit and which are a waste of time—or can even make things worse.

But first, a few tips on figuring out what’s actually going on down there. Research shows that only 35 percent of women correctly self-diagnose a yeast infection, says gynecologist Jacquelyn Stone, MD, at digital women’s health clinic Maven. People often mistake bacterial vaginosis for yeast infections since the symptoms are similar. (One telling difference is that yeast makes your discharge look white and clumpy, while BV may cause it to turn yellowish and have a strong smell odor.) Another condition that can be confused for yeast: trichomoniasis, a common and curable STD, which can also cause discharge and itching.

Before heading to your doctor or starting treatment, it’s smart to pick up a drugstore vaginal pH test. “It’s worth doing this easy OTC test first,” says Stone. “If your pH is high, that’s a symptom of BV, and you should see your doctor for antibiotics. If the test is negative and you know you’re not at risk for sexually transmitted infections, treating the yeast yourself should be fine.” In addition to three- or seven-day drugstore treatments (which are more effective than one-day kits, says Stone), here are four remedies you can use at home that actually help:

• Yogurt contains active cultures, a.k.a. live microorganisms, that may help prevent yeast infections by “keeping the good bacteria where they’re supposed to be,” says Stone. (“No need to actually put it on or in your vagina,” she adds.) Another good-for-you reason to eat yogurt on the regs.

• Coconut oil is proven to kill all species of candida (the scientific term for yeast) and is perfectly safe to apply topically to the vulva, Stone says. It may not be enough to kill an existing infection on its own, but can help soothe itchiness and prevent recurrent infections. Bonus: It’s a great all-natural lube.

• Boric acid capsules, which you can get in drugstores or health-food stores, can be directly inserted into your V, and may help nix resistant or recurrent yeast infections, per Stone.

• Probiotic supplements help replenish lactobacillus (that “good bacteria” you heard about earlier) that keeps your vaginal area—and your digestive system—healthy and balanced. You can get them at any grocery or drugstore, and there are even special formulations for women.

• Airy, cotton undies: These can prevent extra moisture from building up, which stops the overgrowth of yeast, says Stone. If you feel the itch coming on, opt for a pair that wicks, rather than the pretty ones that won’t keep you dry.

But absolutely avoid these DIY strategies that inevitably surface on Google—they won’t do you any favors:

• Cranberries help prevent UTIs, but do zilch for yeast infections.

• Douching is terrible, Stone confirms. “That area is meant to clean itself. Douching messes up the normal healthy bacteria and leads to BV and yeast infections.”

• Washing with soap does the same thing as douching—so keep the body wash away from your bikini area, especially the part that doesn’t naturally grow hair.

• Tea tree oil has antiseptic and antifungal properties, which may be why some people say it helps with yeast, but do not use it on your vagina, Stone says. “It’s scented and could cause burning.”

• Garlic has been shown not to have antiseptic or antifungal properties, Stone says. Avoid.

• Apple cider vinegar may be good for your diet, but it won’t do anything for a yeast infection. Skip it.

There you have it, ladies. Here’s hoping that these at-home remedies will save you some time and discomfort before you hit up your doc for an Rx.

Anna Victoria

It’s rare that I make the time to work out on my lunch break—I’m more of a late-night exerciser—but last week when I was invited for a private group session with fitspiration star and personal trainer Anna Victoria (or @annavictoria, to her 930,000 Instagram followers), I obviously dropped everything, laced up my sneakers, and hit the gym.

You see, I’ve been following Anna Victoria for months—she is one of the most recognizable faces in the realm of Instagram fitspiration after all—and her body-shaping 12-week training guide has been on my to-do list since last summer. I mean, with results like this, it’s hard not to want to give it a try.

Right now, it may seem like just about every pseudo health and fitness expert on Instagram has a guide they want you to buy, download, and follow, but Anna Victoria’s are so effective and easy to follow, that they cut through the hype. Her program includes a 12-week meal plan for vegetarians or meat-eaters ($49.95), and the fitness plan ($49.95) that she’s become most recognized for, which you can download together for a reduced price.

While she took me through a tough 30-minute weight session that left my abs and thighs burning, the Instagram sensation and personal trainer recommends a combination of three weight sessions each week in addition to three cardio days to provide what she explained as a “balanced full-body routine that will work each muscle group as well as help you burn fat.” If it’s weight loss and toning that you’re after, Anna Victoria promises that this is the best combination to achieve dramatic results. “Only cardio or only strength training will not help you get there, but doing them together will. Strengthening your body helps your body burn more calories while at rest—yes, you will literally burn more calories while doing nothing!”

Unlike those from some other Insta-famous trainers, Anna Victoria’s guide isn’t just about body-weight training—she encourages her mostly female fan base to push themselves and pick up a set of dumbbells. I’m clearly a fan, but if you’re not quite ready to invest in her printable guide yet, follow this sample circuit that the PT prepared for us. Repeat the three circuits one to three times, then cool down and stretch. Good luck.

Circuit 1

Weighted squat and shoulder press

One round includes one squat and one shoulder press. Use a 5- to 10-pound weight and complete 10 rounds.

Weighted glute bridge and platform

Use a 10- to 15-pound weight and repeat 15 times.

Burpee and squat jump

One round includes one burpee and one squat jump. Complete eight rounds.

Circuit 2

Bicep curl and shoulder press

One round includes one bicep curl and one shoulder press. Use a 3- to 8-pound weight and repeat for eight rounds.

Push-up

Repeat eight times on your toes if possible.

Mountain climber and commandos

One round includes 10 mountain climbers and 10 commandos (each side).  Complete four rounds.

Circuit 3

Side plank

One round includes one left plank for 15 seconds, and one right plank for 15 seconds.

Bicycle crunch

Complete 10 each side for a total of 20 repetitions.

Mountain climber and plank

One round includes 10 mountain climbers and one 10-second plank. Repeat for three rounds.

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Last month the pay gap issue hit headlines again, after five key members of the world champion U.S. women’s national soccer team accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination. According to “Today,” when the women’s team took out the World Cup in 2015, they only took home $2 million in prize money to be distributed to the players and the organization. Meanwhile the men’s team, earned $9 million, despite failing to actually win anything. (As an FYI, Germany won the men’s cup, and they took home a mind-boggling $35 million.) Keep in mind that a record 26.7 million people in America tuned in to watch the women’s team crush Japan in the World Cup final, and they’ve taken home three straight Olympic gold medals and three World Cup titles. Also keep in mind that the guy’s team hasn’t won either.

Alex Morgan is one of the most vocal female athletes on the national soccer team on the issue of equal pay, and is one of America’s most prominent advocates of women’s sport. She’s a bona fide sporting superstar, sponsored by everyone from Nike to Chobani, and became the youngest player on the national team at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup when she was just 22-years-old. She then went on to score the winning goal at the London Olympics in a semifinal game against Canada the following year, and hit headlines every year.

So with the countdown to the Rio Olympic Games officially on, we chatted with Morgan to find out the food and fitness plan she’s following right now, the biggest issues she sees facing women in sports, and a couple of her favorite healthy recipes.

The biggest issues facing women in sports right that I’m most passionate about are: The [gender] pay discrepancy and the fact that FIFA isn’t paying as much attention to women. Also, the fact that we play on turf, and the men have never played any international major tournaments on turf, they play on grass. We need to get more women in higher positions in FIFA, and to grow the women’s game globally.

I’m preparing for the Rio Olympics by: I’m playing with my club team right now in Orlando [Orlando Pride], and with national team we’ve had more than 10 games togethers so far, right now, so just continuing to have good games and continuing to stay fit.

Alex Morgan playing during the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying in February. Getty Images

My favorite workout is: Of course playing soccer, but if I’m not doing that, either circuit training or doing stations like a couple of minutes each so you get a full body workout in an hour. [I enjoy] doing rope work with a big rope, and ball work. I train every day, and usually I have one day off every week. They range from two hours to three-and-a-half, maybe more. We’ll train more if we’re in pre-season.

The health trend I just can’t get behind is: I’m all about moderation, and I don’t like restrictive diets or to really restrict myself too much. I feel like what you put in your body is the energy and output you’re going to get so that’s very important for athletes.

For breakfast I have: Chobani yogurt with some toppings like fruit or granola, or maybe some agave. If I’m not training, I usually make a smoothie with fruit and yogurt. I usually eat at around 8 a.m.

For lunch I have: I normally have a salad or a sandwich with some fruit, and chicken or lean meat. Or again, I might have a smoothie. I eat anytime after training, as soon as I’m done, which is usually around 12 p.m. or 1 p.m.

My go-to smoothie recipe includes: Fruit like berries, bananas, and spinach, yogurt, sometimes granola, agave or some honey, and either water or apple juice. And I like to put chia seed and hemp seed in it too.

Today I snacked on: Some fruit, and sometimes I carry with my nuts, or like Chobani yogurt, maybe one of their flip yogurts because they’re a good source of energy and have a good amount of protein.

The health and fitness apps I used are: One that syncs to my Polar watch, and I have the Nike Training app, there are a ton, but they’re the two main ones.

The one thing I’d never eat is: There’s not anything I wouldn’t necessarily touch. I’m not super picky.

On Instagram, I like to follow: Mostly soccer players, to be honest.

The three ingredients I always keep in my kitchen are: A good sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, and I like to make lean meat like chicken so I always have good seasonings.

My signature healthy dish is: A lot of times we’re so busy throughout the day I’ll just make something in the crockpot, and sometimes when I have extra time to put something together it’s usually some sort of meat and a lot of veggies. It’s pretty basic, but I like to incorporate fresh fruit and vegetables. I like to make my own hummus, which I make with Chobani yogurt. It’s really good.

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The most-played songs on my workout playlist right now are: When I workout on my own it’s less pop or rap music, and more Vance Joy, Kings of Leon, Mumford and Sons, and The Lumineers. I listen to that really poppy or rap music when I’m with my teammates.

The best part about my job is: I love the fact that I’m able to use the platform that I have in order to really speak up about the topics I’m passionate about. What I do has a great impact on young girls, and for me it’s important to speak about important issues and to hold that responsibility for inspiring the next generation of athletes.

The health and fitness trend I tip to dominate 2016 is: I don’t know, I stick to my own kind of soccer routine, but when I’m not playing I love to do spin classes and yoga and stuff, and I think spin classes are really popular. It’s a great workout if you can get in 45 minute to an hour.

My favorite healthy restaurant is: I always like to find new restaurants and cafes in the cities that I’m visiting because I’m always traveling around.

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Turns out that your first time might have been less about being ready to go all the way with a special someone and more about your genetic code. A new study found that your genes affect how old you are when you first have sex.

“We were able to calculate for the first time that there is a heritable component to age at first sex, and the heritability is about 25 percent, so one quarter nature, three quarters nurture,” one of the study’s researchers, Cambridge University’s John Perry, told The Guardian. In other words, your DNA totally affects the age at which you lose your virginity, but to a relatively minimal extent—religion, peer pressure, family background, and other factors comprise the other 75 percent that determines when you have your first sexual encounter.

That said, your DNA does impact when you decide to lose your V-card. If you have one of the gene’s variants, CADM2, you have a predilection for kicking things off sex-wise earlier in life, along with having a higher chance for risk-taking behavior and having a bunch of kids.

They also identified another gene variant, MSRA, to be associated with those who tend to have sex for the first time later in life, which also happens to be related to higher levels of irritability in one’s personality. Hmmm.

The study—which used data from more than 125,000 Brits to identify 38 gene regions, then corroborated those results in 250,000-plus people in the US and Iceland—also found that 18 was the most common age at which study participants had their introductory experience of intercourse.

In a true WTF moment, the study also found that red-headed, freckled women have a higher chance of a later-in-life first time, which is not so in men with the same looks. We’re going to go ahead and blame the patriarchy for that one.

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You’re never really the same after your first bout of PMS. The painful cramping, the unstable mood swings, the desire to down every carb-laden food in sight, and the bloating—it stays etched into your subconscious all month until it’s time to relive it all over again. Kind of like our bodies are taking revenge every damn month for not procreating.

Not to restate the obvious, but you’re definitely not alone in feeling this way: A 2012 study found that period pain is an issue for more than 84 percent of women, and the American Academy of Family Physicians says that cramps seriously interrupt the daily life of around one in five women. So when we heard that a female entrepreneur was developing a drug-free, noninvasive way to ease said pain, we were intrigued, to say the least. Chen Nachum is the guy behind Livia, a new device that clips onto the waist of your pants and claims to be the “off switch for menstrual pain,” and has nearly quadrupled its fundraising goal on Indiegogo by raising $185,000. 

Before creating Livia, Nachum worked in tech and startups for companies such as iBackup, an online backup company for small businesses. He came up with the concept after chatting with her father, who develops medical patents for a living. “I came across his basic concept for Livia and helped make it a reality with today’s advanced technology,” he told us. “The idea of Livia really interested me because it gives an amazing and much-needed modern-day solution to something that is often stigmatized. Period pain is a natural phenomenon, and women shouldn’t feel debilitated or unable to continue with their day because of it.”

The device itself is super discreet—measuring smaller than the palm of your hand—and clips easily onto the waistband of your pants. It works by using electrical stimulation to block your body’s pain receptors. What exactly does this mean? Nachum explains: “Well, the electrical pulses passed through the electrodes on the skin interrupt pain messages sent from the nerves to the brain. By interrupting these messages, the brain won’t be receiving them and essentially doesn’t know that there is any pain occurring, therefore users won’t feel any.” This is known in medicine as Gate Control Theory.

This particular concept of pain relief might sound a little out there, but it’s been around for a while, although never directly used for period pain. TENS is one company that’s been using electrodes to safely ease pain in physiotherapy for years.

Livia

After six months of testing the concept, Nachum and his team came up with the final prototype for Livia, which is safe and relatively affordable. “After experimenting with frequencies and wave shapes compatible with our needs, we created an initial (very rough) device. After much more experimentation and fine-tuning to produce optimal results, we created the first Livia.” You can wear yours for as long as you feel the pain, whether that’s all day or just for a couple of hours, and it’s safe to use along with your regular painkillers. “For very strong cramps, the reduction is very significant, but may not be 100 percent. In those cases, using drugs like ibuprofen to complete the task can help,” Nachum said.

You’ll be able to buy your own Livia  for $149 when it launches online October, or you can back the startup on its Indiegogo page and preorder for $85. And, hey, if it doesn’t completely put an end to your cramps, you could always try insertable vagina weed for your period pain.

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It’s an odd phenomenon when you think about it: Using hot wax and sharp razors to get rid of the hair that naturally grows between our legs. It sounds like a medieval torture method and yet almost half of us engage in the painful “ladyscaping” routine.

Last month, a survey of 1,000 American adults found that only 37 percent of women believe they should remove their genital pubic hair, and yet 41 percent of them do it regularly—and for women under age 30, that went up to 55 percent. These numbers aren’t shocking; I’d speculate that younger women—who may be likelier to be single, sexually active with more than one partner, or wearing bikinis at the beach—wax or shave more than older women, but in an age where our gender has made enough progress that we’re getting put on the face of US currency, why in hell are we doing something to our bodies that we don’t want to?

Blame it on our culture. “Shaving and ‘scaping’ is much more common in American culture than European,” says Loryn Ashton, a women’s-health nurse practitioner with Maven digital health clinic. “When you walk into stores, there are whole aisles dedicated to feminine hygiene, with tons of options to rid yourself of pubic hair: This tells us that hair is unwanted, that it is unfeminine and not sexy. I have had multiple clients apologize for not shaving or waxing before their exam.” And it doesn’t help that in most of the porn men watch, women are totally hairless down there, so they associate it with feeling turned on. “Many men request their female partners to minimize their pubic hair—in fact, that’s my own husband’s preference,” says Ashton.

MORE: 50 Ways to Be Sexier Right Now

Products might be marketed as “feminine hygiene,” but let’s be clear on one thing: Pubic hair is in no way unhygienic—it’s not like choosing not to shower or floss. In fact, removing your hair is likelier to put you at risk of health issues than leaving it au naturel. “Recent research shows that removing pubic hair can increase your risk of viral or fungal infection, ingrown hairs, or even skin scarring,” says Ashton. “You can pick things up from dirty surfaces, contaminated tools, or by introducing bacteria into newly opened pores or nicks after shaving or waxing.” A 2014 study even suggested that going hairless could up your risk of getting an STI.

Even if these situations are unlikely eventualities, they’re still risks—not to mention the physical pain and cost of a bikini wax, which can run you around $80. The good news is that more women seem open to taking off less hair. “We’ve definitely seen a shift,” says Jennifer Pesce, brand director for Shobha, a high-end hair-removal salon chain based in New York. “When ‘Sex and the City’ was in its heyday, going completely bare was more on trend, but now people are opting for a little more on top, with everything still pretty bare beneath and on the sides—in other words, no bathing suit flyaways.”

Bikini season is coming up, and many on-and-off waxers (myself included) will probably be heading to salons like Shobha. Waxing trends are cyclical, Pesce says: “Similar to haircuts, bikini styles tend to change seasonally, leaving more behind in the colder months, while taking it all off in the spring and summer. In general, the trend seems to be leaning toward personal customization and what makes you feel the most confident and sexy.”

Do what you have to, ladies, just do it carefully. Ashton’s rules: Trim when you can instead of going totally bare; use a new razor every time you shave; treat ingrown hairs to avoid infection; and avoid sex right after shaving or waxing (the friction can be irritating). And do it on your own terms, please—if you absolutely dread getting waxed, there’s no need to torture yourself. Despite what ads, magazines, or even men might have you believe, the world will not end if your bikini area is not perfectly scaped. As Ashton says, “heaven forbid someone see a woman’s pubic hair!”