Posted by
Kate W
on
Monday, December 3rd, 2012
Image source: Rollinoatstampa.com
Until we met, my husband had a startlingly limited palate. He grew up in the Northeast with a mom who made a lot of casseroles, occasionally served with a side of canned vegetables if they were feeling particularly adventurous. Even her cranberry relish at Thanksgiving time comes out of a can, which probably negates some of its nutritional benefits. When we relocated to my home state of Florida, suddenly he was faced with a brave new culinary world: fresh fruit. He was surprisingly resistant to it at first. After years of canned produce, the fresh stuff just tasted too weird to him. I used sales every secret I could try to sell him on the idea that fresh fruit would really change his life, but no matter how hard I worked, he resisted. But then a few years ago, he suddenly became obsessed with pineapple, and I’ve recently discovered there may be a good reason why: it very well could be helping to ease the symptoms of his lupus.
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Friday, November 30th, 2012
Image source: Usmagazine.com
My name is Kate and I am addicted to television. My tastes run the gamut. I watch half-hour comedies and hour-long dramas with equal avidness. I gobble up both scripted shows and reality programming with aplomb. My DVR is packed with crime procedurals and cooking shows and every last installment of the Real Housewives franchise. But I don’t know that I’ve ever loved a show as much as I adored the far too short-lived Veronica Mars, a witty fast-paced mystery series about a teenage private detective. In its mere three seasons on the air it captured my imagination like no other. I wrote fanfiction for the show so prolifically that one of the actors, the preposterously handosme Michael Muhney, discovered it and left a comment praising my characterization: this remains one of the most thrillingly surreal experiences of my life. I even traveled all the way from Florida to Austin for a fan convention where I got to hang out with fellow fans as well as the show’s creator and several of its stars. Though the show has been off the air for five years, I still feel a certain fondness for everyone who was involved in its production, so I was really excited to hear that actress Kristen Bell, who played the title character, is expecting her first child with longtime partner Dax Shepard.
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Thursday, November 29th, 2012
Image source: Drugsdb.com
Most people who are even a little savvy about medicine know that it’s important to be careful about drug interactions. If you’re taking a prescription sleep aid like Ambien instead of exploring all-natural insomnia cures you’ll want to skip your dose if you decide to indulge in a few cocktails in the beer garden at Brooklyn Night Bazaar, as alcohol amplifies the drug’s effects and increases the risk of overdose. And if you take prescription antidepressants like Prozac instead of an all-natural flower supplement like verbena extract to manage your depression you should avoid taking cough syrups containing dextromethorphan, unless vivid drug-induced hallucinations are your idea of a good time. But a new medical journal report indicates that many people may inadvertently be triggering dangerous drug interactions every day with a surprising and seemingly innocuous substance. It seems that a simple glass of grapefruit juice can interfere dangerously with medications.
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Wednesday, November 28th, 2012
Image source: En.wikipedia.org
My husband is logical and methodical to the extreme. He works as a computer programmer. He does our income taxes early every year – I’ve never worried about him procrastinating and not filing taxes on time. The man organizes his socks by color, for pete’s sake. And yet, whenever someone behaves outside of the norm, he is quick to attest their behavior to the full moon. I worked retail for many years (and boy was I glad to get out of that field – I do not miss the bargain-shopping Black Friday crowds) and I often complained that the nuttier customers all seemed to come in on the same days: my husband was convinced that if I actually charted it, I would notice that more out-there customers would come in around certain phases of the moon. I always scoffed at him, but now I have scientific evidence to back me up. A recent study has debunked the myth that the full moon increases the incidence of psychological problems.
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Tuesday, November 27th, 2012
Image source: Hartman-group.com
It’s safe to say that in this country, we have a complicated relationship with food. If you flip through the channels, you’ll stumble upon travel shows highlighting fatty diner food, cooking programs where butter seems to be the main ingredient, and hour-long talk shows revolving around healthy eating, often all on simultaneously. It’s no wonder people find it difficult to lose weight when faced with these conflicting messages that imply the food you should eat isn’t the food you really want to eat. It’s no wonder, with all these mixed messages floating around, that people still have misconceptions about weight-loss surgeries such as gastric bypass: namely, that they are either a quick and easy way to lose weight, or a lazy copout for people who don’t want to change their habits. Neither point of view could be further from the truth.
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Monday, November 26th, 2012
Image source: Msheci.wordpress.com
I have struggled for my entire life with insomnia. Some of my earliest memories involve curling up against my dad’s side and watching the television flickering in the dark while we both stayed up late into the night, plagued by sleeplessness. I’ve sampled the whole gamut of natural sleep aids: when my daughter was a newborn I tried to ease my insomnia naturally with melatonin but though it was effective, it gave me vivid nightmares. I’ve even broken down and tried prescription sleep aids, but I am concerned they could be addictive. So, I’m redoubling my efforts to try and find a non-addictive sleep solution that works for my life. Here are my next steps:
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Friday, November 23rd, 2012
Image source: Sheknows.com
Everyone wants to feel beautiful. And celebrities, who spend much of their time in the spotlight, often feel even more intense pressure to always look their best. And though celebrities may appear flawless, they suffer from the same skin ailments and imperfections that many of the rest of us mere mortals do, including psoriasis. Psoriasis is a common and chronic autoimmune skin disease that often manifests in patches of raised red skin and thick silvery scales, or even pustules. It is itchy and painful, and it can often cause its sufferers great embarrassment thanks to its high visibility.
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Thursday, November 22nd, 2012
Image source: Citylifecitywife.com
Thanksgiving is all about friends, family, and perhaps most importantly, food. In just a few hours you’ll be pushing your chair back from the dinner table and bemoaning how stuffed full of turkey and mashed potatoes you are, even as you eye the pumpkin and apple pies lining your kitchen counter. Even though you may enjoy your brief foray into gluttony, you may find yourself regretting it when tomorrow even your most elastic pants feel a little snug. But have no fear – you can undo the damage of overindulgence even without trendy weight loss supplements. Just follow these simple steps:
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Wednesday, November 21st, 2012
Image source: Blogs.sacbee.com
Over the years, more and more retailers have begun catering to sale-savvy consumers by opening their doors early on Black Friday. This year, some major retailers like Target will be opening as early as 9pm Thanksgiving night in order to attract sale-oriented consumers. Despite petitions and threats of strikes by employees unhappy about working on the holiday, Walmart also plans to open as early as 8pm on Thanksgiving night as do other retailers like Toys R Us. If you’re one of the brave souls who will be braving the after-dinner crowds in search of a great deal, you’ll need an edge. Here are some supplements that will give you enough stamina to make it through Thanksgiving and Black Friday with energy to spare:
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Posted by
Kate W
on
Tuesday, November 20th, 2012
Image source: Youqueen.com
A little black dress is a wardrobe necessity. It can be worn at a variety of occasions and it looks good on just about everyone. Vitamin C is the nutritional equivalent of the little black dress. Everyone can benefit from it: it’s long been used to help people make it through cold and flu season, and it also protects against a vast array of medical issues from immune system deficiencies to cardiovascular disease to eye problems. It may even help combat PMS symptoms. And now, new research published by the University of Copenhagen shows that even the unborn can benefit from supplementation, as Vitamin C deficiency in an expectant woman can have serious long-term consequences on the fetal brain.
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