Why Your Dry Skin Gets Worse in Summer (Aside From The Obvious)
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Dr. Andrea Suarez, dermatologists, talks about considerations that many overlook:
More than one way to dry out
Some things are obvious. For example, UV radiation damages your skin barrier, lowers ceramide levels, increases water loss, and makes your skin more prone to dryness. Sunburn further weakens the barrier and should be treated with gentle, lightweight moisturizers while healing.
Also, wearing less clothing during summer allows more water to evaporate from your skin, contributing to dryness too. Lightweight, breathable long sleeves and trousers can help retain moisture while protecting against the sun.
Some things, most people won’t think about; for example, how sweat is salty water, which is the opposite of moisturizing. As it evaporates, it pulls water from your skin, increasing dryness and irritation. Sweat combined with friction also damages your skin barrier and can trigger eczema flare-ups as well.
As for what you can do about that, it’s recommended to rinse your skin with cool water as soon as possible after exercise or outdoor activities to remove sweat, cool your body, and reduce irritation. A full shower is not always necessary, but definitely helps. Of course, antiperspirants can help too, as can including lotions designed for your hands and feet, which can reduce sweating and thus additionally help prevent dyshidrotic eczema flare-ups.
Aside from that, all the usual advice goes: wear sunscreen, cover up to whatever extent is comfortable, wash away sweat as necessary, and of course moisturize. And hydrate (yourself, in general, i.e. drink water, or better yet, eat generously water-containing foods like grapes, melon, cucumber, etc)!
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Beyond Sunscreen: The Ultimate Guide To Photoprotection For Your Skin
Take care!
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The Kindness Method – by Shahroo Izadi
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Shahroo Izadi here covers everything from alcohol addiction to procrastination to weight loss. It’s a catch-all handbook for changing your habits—in general, and/or in whatever area of your life you most feel you want or need to.
She herself went from yo-yo dieting to a stable healthy lifestyle, and wants to share with us how she did it. So she took what worked for her, organized and dilstilled it, and named it “the kindness method”, which…
- promotes positivity not in a “head in the sand” sense but rather: you have strengths, let’s find them and use them
- offers many exploratory exercises to help you figure out what’s actually going to be best for you
- plans support in advance—you’re going to be your own greatest ally here
Basically it’s about:
- being kind to yourself rather than setting yourself up to fail, and “judging a fish by how well it can climb a tree”
- being kind to yourself by being compassionate towards your past self and moving on with lessons learned
- being kind to yourself by getting things in order for your future self, because you need to treat your future self like a loved one
In fact, why not buy a copy of this book as a gift for your future self?
Click Here To Order Your Copy of “The Kindness Method” on Amazon Today!
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How To Triple Your Breast Cancer Survival Chances
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Keeping Abreast Of Your Cancer Risk
It’s the kind of thing that most people think won’t happen to them. And hopefully, it won’t!
But…
- Anyone (who has not had a double mastectomy*, anyway) can get breast cancer.
- *and even this depends on the type of double mastectomy and other circumstances, and technically there will always be a non-zero risk, because of complicating factors.
- Breast cancer, if diagnosed early (before it spreads), has a 98% survival rate.
- That survival rate drops to 31% if diagnosed after it has spread through the body.
(The US CDC’s breast cancer “stat bite” page has more stats and interactive graphs, so click here to see those charts and get the more detailed low-down on mortality/survival rates with various different situations)
We think that the difference between 98% and 31% survival rates is more than enough reason to give ourselves a monthly self-check at the very least! You’ve probably seen how-to diagrams before, but here are instructions for your convenience:
(This graphic was created by the Jordan Breast Cancer Program—check them out, as they have lots of resources)
If you don’t have the opportunity to take matters into your own hands right now, rather than just promise yourself “I’ll do that later”, take this free 4-minute Breast Health Assessment from Aurora Healthcare. Again, we think the difference early diagnosis can make to your survival chances make these tests well worth it:
Click Here To Take The Free 4-Minute Breast Health Assessment!
Lest we forget, men can also get breast cancer (the CDC has a page for men too), especially if over 50. But how do you check for breast cancer, when you don’t have breasts in the commonly-understood sense of the word?
So take a moment to do this (yes, really actually do it!), and set a reminder in your calendar to repeat it monthly—there really is no reason not to!
Take care of yourself; you’re important.
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- Anyone (who has not had a double mastectomy*, anyway) can get breast cancer.
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10 “Healthy” Foods That Are Often Worse Than You Think
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“This is healthy, it’s a…” is an easy mistake to make if one doesn’t read the labels. Here are 10 tricksters to watch out for in particular!
Don’t be fooled by healthy aesthetics on the packaging…
Notwithstanding appearances and in many cases reputations, these all merit extra attention:
- Yogurt: sweetened yogurts, especially “fruit at the bottom / in the corner” types, often have 15–30g of sugar per serving. Plain Greek yogurt is a better choice, offering 15–20g of protein with no added sugar. You can always add fresh fruits or spices like sweet cinnamon for flavor without added sugar.
- Oatmeal: prepackaged oatmeal can contain 12–15 grams of added sugar per serving, similar to a glazed donut. Additionally, finely milled oats (as in “instant” oatmeal) can cause blood sugar spikes by itself, due to the loss of fiber. Better is plain oats, and if you like, you can sweeten them naturally with sweet cinnamon and/or fresh fruit for a healthier breakfast.
- Sushi: while sushi contains nutritious fish, it often has too much white rice (and in the US, sushi rice is also often cooked with sugar to “improve” the taste and help cohesion) and sugary sauces. This makes many rolls much less healthy. So if fish (the sashimi component of sushi) is your thing, then focus on that, and minimize sugar intake for a more balanced meal.
- Baked beans: store-bought baked beans can have up to 25g of added sugar per cup, similar to soda. Better to opt for plain beans and prepare them at home so that nothing is in them except what you personally put there.
- Deli meats: deli meats are convenient but often are more processed than they look, containing preservatives linked to health risks. Fresh, unprocessed meats like chicken or turkey breast are healthier and can still be cost-effective when bought in bulk.
- Fruit juices: fruit juices lack fiber (meaning their own natural sugars also become harmful, with no fiber to slow them down) and often contain added sugars too. Eating whole fruits is a much better way to get fiber, nutrients, and controlled healthy sugar intake.
- Hazelnut spread: hazelnut spreads are usually 50% added sugar and contain unhealthy oils like palm oil. So, skip those, and enjoy natural nut butters for healthier fats and proteins.
- Granola: granola is often loaded with added sugars and preservatives, so watch out for those.
- Sports drinks: sports drinks, with 20–25g of added sugar per serving, are unnecessary and unhelpful (except, perhaps, in case of emergency for correcting diabetic hypoglycemia). Stick to water or electrolyte drinks—and even in the latter case, check the labels for added sugar and excessive sodium!
- Dark chocolate: dark chocolate with 80% or more cocoa has health benefits but still typically contains a lot of added sugar. Check labels carefully!
For more on each of these, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
From Apples to Bees, and High-Fructose Cs: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?
Take care!
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Macro Cookbook for Beginners – by Devika Sharma
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Adjusting macros is one of the most time-tested ways to adjust our body composition (common goals being losing fat and/or gaining muscle), but it’s easy to mess up, and end up with the opposite results, or no discernible results at all.
This book aims to take away the complexity of macro calculations, while simultaneously doing away completely with other considerations, for a very simple dietary approach.
As a default starting approach, the author (a dietician) recommends 45% carbs, 30% protein, 25% fat. She then gives various modifications for different goals and, indeed, different starting points.
The “anything goes, if it fits in your macros” approach can of course lead to very unhealthy eating, if one’s daily diet then becomes 3 protein bars and 7 Mars bars, for example (“hey, it meets the macro ratio requirements”).
With that in mind, she does provide 100 recipes that are at least moderately healthy, insofar as they do contain a lot of nutrients. They also do contain a lot of things we wouldn’t recommend (e.g. added sugar in the desserts, unfermented dairy in various places, red meat in the mains, etc), but that’s for you to decide about.
The recipes are a little on the basic side for this reviewer’s tastes, but then, that is the main angle of this book: making things as basic as possible. So, perhaps there is merit to that too. There are no pictures, or rather, there are illustrations dotted throughout the book, but not actual pictures of meals next to the recipes for them, as one might expect.
Bottom line: if you’re looking for a basic basics for beginners diet book, this book is remarkably basic and can fulfil that need.
Click here to check out Macro Cookbook For Beginners, and get counting macros!
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Chard vs Lettuce – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing chard to lettuce, we picked the chard.
Why?
In terms of macros, there’s nothing meaningful between them, being approximately equal on fiber, carbs, and protein. So, a tie in the first round.
In the category of vitamins, chard has more of vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, C, E, and K, while lettuce has more of vitamins A, B1, and B9, yielding a 7:3 win to chard.
Looking at minerals, chard has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while lettuce is not higher in any minerals, making this round an easy victory for chard.
In other considerations, chard also has more polyphenols, especially flavonoids such as kaempferol and quercetin. So that’s another round to chard.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for chard, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
- What Does Kaempferol Do, Anyway?
- Fight Inflammation & Protect Your Brain, With Quercetin
- 21 Most Beneficial Polyphenols & What Foods Have Them
Enjoy!
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Compression Socks: The #1 Mistake Most People Make
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Dr. John Chuback explains:
The joy of socks
How most* compression socks work: graduated compression is tighter at the ankle and looser as it moves upwards, which improves venous return towards your heart, reduces blood pooling, supports lymphatic drainage, and limits capillary leakage that contributes to swelling.
*there are also other kinds of compression socks, such as:
- those that don’t do that, and are really just tight socks (these don’t work very well)
- exciting bionic socks with a hydraulic peristaltic massage function (these work very well)
Assuming you have well-designed standard compression socks that work, then the way they help is slightly different for different things:
- How they help vs varicose veins and CVI: in chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), faulty vein valves allow blood to pool in your lower legs, and compression reduces venous pressure, relieves aching and heaviness, slows disease progression, and improves comfort but doesn’t repair damaged valves.
- How they help vs edema and lymphedema: compression limits fluid leakage into your tissues and supports lymphatic flow, with lymphedema often requiring higher grades such as 30–40 mmHg and combination therapy like manual lymphatic drainage or complete decongestive therapy.
- How they help for travel, standing, and surgery: compression reduces the risk of deep vein thrombosis during prolonged sitting or standing and supports healing, bruising reduction, and inflammation control after vein procedures, especially when combined with movement and hydration.
However! Dysfunction of specifically the great saphenous vein can cause heaviness, night cramps, and swelling, and while compression controls symptoms. In this case, proper diagnosis with vascular ultrasound mapping is critical, because it may need actual interventions (beyond merely controlling the symptoms).
Some tips to avoid erring in ways that many people indeed err:
- Choose the right compression level: mild support is typically 8–15 mmHg for travel or fatigue, moderate is 15–20 mmHg for mild swelling or small varicosities, medical grade is 20–30 mmHg for significant varicose veins and edema, and 30–40 mmHg is used for more advanced lymphedema or selected post-procedure cases.
- Make sure the fit is correct: this is about the dimensions, not just the compression level! You need to know a bunch of measurements, not just your shoe size. Get professionally fitted if you can, apply garments first thing in the morning when swelling is minimal, avoid rolling the top to prevent a tourniquet effect, ensure they feel snug but not painful, and watch for numbness or tingling.
- Watch out for warning signs/symptoms that merit urgent attention: unilateral leg swelling, skin thickening or darkening, cobblestone texture, severe itching, restless legs, night cramps, open wounds, ulcers, or worsening symptoms despite compression can be signs/symptoms of deep vein thrombosis or advanced venous disease; these do require specialist assessment.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Remedies To Reduce Varicose Veins (Or Avoid Them Entirely)
Take care!
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