Healthy Living, Simplified

a woman with acne-prone skin applying Benzoyl Peroxide Benzene to her cheek from a jar

Benzoyl Peroxide Benzene Recall: Which Acne Products the FDA Pulled

The FDA tested 95 benzoyl peroxide acne products for benzene and found elevated levels in just six. Here's the full list of recalled products, what the findings actually mean, and whether you need to worry about what's already in your bathroom cabinet.

Your Diet Might Be Playing a Bigger Role in Heart Disease Than You Think

Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Diets high in ultra-processed foods have repeatedly been associated with poorer health, although scientists are still debating how much of the risk comes from processing itself versus factors like added sugar, sodium, saturated fat, and low fiber. A new modeling study estimates that ultra-processed food consumption may account for between 23% and 38% of cardiovascular disease cases and deaths among Canadian adults. The Study: Researchers combined Canadian dietary data from 2015 — when ultra-processed foods supplied 43.4% of adults’ daily calories — with national cardiovascular statistics and estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study. Their model suggested that reducing UPF consumption by 20% to 50% could have prevented approximately 16,800 to 45,900 new cases of heart disease and stroke, along with 3,100 to 8,300 cardiovascular deaths, in Canada in 2019. The Takeaway: Even a relatively modest population-wide reduction in ultra-processed food consumption could potentially prevent thousands of cardiovascular cases, according to the model. Keep in Mind: These are hypothetical estimates, not cases and deaths directly observed in people who changed their diets. The analysis relied on older dietary data, observational risk estimates and several modeling assumptions. Ultra-processed food intake also overlaps with […]

A discarded banana peel on a teal background, the edible part most people skip when eating banana peels isn't the norm

Can You Eat Banana Peels? Yes. Should You? Well…

a woman contemplates health halo foods, which sometimes aren't as healthy as they sound

The ‘Health Halo’: Foods That Aren’t as Good for You as They Look

A single buzzword like 'natural,' 'organic,' or 'high-protein' can make a processed food feel healthy, even when the back of the label says otherwise. That's the health halo at work. Here are the foods that aren't as good for you as they look, and how to read past the marketing.

Sleep Loss Shows Up Somewhere Surprising

Spit Take: Red, bleary eyes and dark undereye circles are telltale signs we’re not getting enough sleep. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now found a way to measure fatigue in our mouth — more specifically, in our saliva. The Study: The research team gathered 20 healthy young males (ages 20 to 33) who regularly get seven to nine hours of sleep. They created three interventions, each separated by one week: one night of total sleep deprivation, four consecutive nights of sleep restricted to six hours, and control sleep of eight hours. Multiple saliva specimens were taken before and after each intervention for each participant and then analyzed using liquid chromatography. Researchers identified 10 molecular differences in saliva between sleep-deprived and well–rested participants. The Takeaway: Researchers say these 10 differences create a “sleepiness fingerprint” that could be used to develop a rapid saliva test to gauge sleepiness before driving or operating machinery — like a version of alcohol breath tests. Drowsy driving kills more than 6,000 people each year in the U.S. Keep in Mind: This was a small preliminary study that included only young men, but the next research phase will include a broader population.

Fitness

Nutrition

Sleep

Sniffing Chocolate Might Actually Help You on Leg Day

You Should Know: Now here’s a weird one for all you weight lifters out there. A new study says sniffing dark chocolate before and between sets (yes, you read that correctly), could help you squeeze out more reps, no eating required. Going Deeper: Researchers wanted to know if scent alone could change weight lifting performance, not just how it feels. So a group of men who train regularly sniffed dark or milk chocolate against a control (water) before doing leg extensions following an overnight fast. Dark chocolate added about 18 more reps than water, while milk chocolate only added about 9. Researchers think the smell of chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, perhaps tricks the brain into feeling full before you’ve actually eaten anything, which ultimately helps performance. Takeaway: This fits with other research on scent and exercise, like peppermint and citrus affecting mood during workouts. Sadly, eating chocolate hasn’t shown the same performance boost. Bottom Line: Don’t count on chocolate scent to improve your workout. For a more reliable boost, avoid lifting on an empty stomach and have a light snack with carbohydrates beforehand.

a woman riding a stationary bike while holding a drink for glute strength

Does Cycling Build Glutes — and If Not, What Does?

Does cycling build glutes? Here's what the science says about glute activation during cycling, plus how to boost it and actually grow bigger glutes through training.

a woman performing an exercise with dumbbells as part of a workout routine

How Many Different Exercises Should You Do Per Workout?

Most people only need 4 to 8 exercises per workout. Learn how weekly volume, not exercise count, drives real strength and muscle gains.

Exercise Appears to Rewind the Clock on Muscle Aging

Hit Rewind: Muscle loss and muscle weakening are major concerns in older adults, but we have the power to slow — or even reverse — muscle aging. New research suggests exercise can reverse some of the cellular changes associated with muscle aging. The Study: Researchers wanted to understand why muscles lose strength and function with age, and how exercise might counteract that process. They identified a protein called DEAF1 that becomes more active in aging muscle. When that happens, it disrupts a cellular system called mTORC1, which helps muscles manage the production and recycling of proteins. That disruption can contribute to the buildup of damaged proteins and other signs of muscle aging. Exercise also appeared to activate another pathway, called FOXO, which suppressed DEAF1 and helped restore healthier muscle function. When researchers blocked this pathway, many of exercise’s beneficial effects disappeared. The Takeaway: More than just making muscles stronger, exercise may reverse some of the underlying cellular changes that occur as muscles age. Keep in Mind: This research doesn’t prove that exercise literally makes human muscles biologically young again. The study focused on the cellular mechanisms behind muscle aging, and more research is needed to determine how these findings translate […]

Does Alcohol Really Cook Out of Food?

You Should Know: Love a good chicken marsala, bananas foster, or penne alla vodka? The common thinking is that the alcohol in dishes like these evaporates during cooking, making it OK for kids and non-drinkers to consume. While heat does reduce the alcohol content, it doesn’t always remove it completely. Going Deeper: Not all of the alcohol dissipates during cooking — and a substantial amount could remain. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data lab, you’d need to cook a dish for at least three hours to fully eliminate any trace of booze. How much alcohol remains in the finished meal depends on the cooking temperature, length of cooking time, and the surface area of the pan. Takeaway: Every dish is different. Long-simmered recipes like beef bourguignon lose most of their alcohol, but dishes cooked or baked for 15 minutes retain 40% of the alcohol, and even after an hour, about 25% may remain. Dishes that have alcohol added near to the end of cooking could retain as much as 85%. Bottom Line: If you’re cooking for children or for someone who’s sober, skip these and prepare one of the scores of dishes that don’t contain any […]

Can You Eat Banana Peels? Yes. Should You? Well…

Banana peels are edible and packed with fiber, potassium, and antioxidants — but the hype outpaces the science. Here's what's actually backed by research, and how to start eating them.

TikTok’s 3-Color Rule Actually Has Science Behind It

Rule of Three: Every once in a while, the TikTok kids get something right. One of the latest wellness trends making the rounds on social media is the “3-color rule,” which involves piling colorful vegetables onto your plate at every meal to boost weight loss instead of counting calories or macros. Yes, it may sound like another passing trend, but it draws on decades of research, some dating back to the late 1990s. How to Do It: The hard part is keeping your fridge stocked with produce, so reach for some fruits and vegetables next time you’re at the store. After that, putting it into practice is easy: sprinkle blueberries and walnuts onto your oatmeal or add tomatoes and carrots to a salad of leafy greens. The Benefits: Eating more colorful plant foods is a no-regret move supported by strong evidence from a 2022 umbrella review covering 86 studies and over 37 million people. Colorful plant pigments were linked to improvements in body weight and cholesterol. Carotenoids, found in red and orange produce like carrots and cantaloupe, were shown to affect waist size and total cholesterol. And flavonoids, common in foods like onions and berries, were tied to lower blood […]

That Hot Sauce Obsession May Not Be Harmless After All

Hot Take: If you’ve never understood the appeal of drowning your eggs in ghost pepper sauce, a new review published in Frontiers in Nutrition finally provides you with a real argument against it beyond “that just seems like masochism.” Researchers have found that people who eat the most chili peppers face a higher risk of esophageal cancer than those who eat little to none. The Study: The review combined data from 14 studies covering more than 11,000 people, including over 5,000 diagnosed with digestive tract cancers. People with the highest chili pepper intake had about a 64% higher risk of gastrointestinal cancers overall compared to the lowest consumers. Esophageal cancer showed the strongest link, with heavy consumers facing nearly triple the risk of light consumers. Stomach and colorectal cancers showed similar trends, but they didn’t reach statistical significance. The Takeaway: Experts say there isn’t enough evidence to tell healthy people to stop eating spicy food entirely. However, chronic reflux is already a known risk factor for esophageal cancer, so if spicy food keeps triggering your heartburn, that’s a solid reason to cut back. Keep in Mind: Researchers have pinpointed a connection between chili peppers and esophageal cancer, but they can’t […]

Cannabis plant leaves in close-up, related to cannabis and sleep quality

What Cannabis Really Does to Your Sleep

THC gummies can help you drift off faster, but sleep experts warn that regular cannabis use suppresses REM sleep, builds tolerance, and may leave you more tired than when you started. Here's what the research says about cannabis as a sleep aid — and what actually works better long-term.

Just 78 Minutes Less Sleep a Night Could Lead to Weight Gain

Tip the Scales: Good sleep is essential for keeping nearly every system in our body working properly, including our hormones, brain, and heart. Need more incentive to catch more zzz’s? A new study has found that losing even a modest amount of sleep could contribute to weight gain. The Study: Researchers studied 95 people who were already at risk for heart or metabolic disease and normally slept between seven and eight hours a night. Each participant experienced two different sleep conditions over a six-week period. During the “adequate sleep” window, they slept their normal seven hours or more. During “sleep restriction,” they went to bed 1.5 hours later than normal, losing 90 minutes of sleep time. Participants wore wrist trackers to monitor sleep and activity levels. Their hormones, BMI, body composition, and waist circumference were measured multiple times. The Takeaway: Participants who slept an average of 78 minutes less per night gained nearly one pound of weight compared to when they got adequate sleep. They also gained an average of a half-centimeter around their waist and had 17 more minutes a day of sedentary time. Keep in Mind: Because the study was small and lasted only six weeks, it can’t […]

Why Do I Wake Up Groggy? The REM and Deep Sleep Connection

You logged a full eight hours and still feel foggy. If you've wondered why you wake up groggy, the answer is usually about sleep quality, not quantity — here's what's going on and how to fix it.

Why Do We Sleep Worse in the Summer?

You Should Know: Summer may feel like a time to rest and recharge, but when days stay lighter for hours longer and sweltering nights make it hard to get comfortable, our sleep often suffers. Going Deeper: We may sleep less in the summer because of vacations or extra socializing, and bedtimes and wake times get later when days are longer and warmer. The extra summer sunlight affects our circadian rhythm, which regulates the sleep/wake cycle. Darkness and a drop in body temperature helps trigger melatonin production and induce sleep — both of which can be hard to come by in summertime. Takeaway: You might need to do a little more in the summer to sleep better. Keep blinds or curtains open to get as much sunlight as possible during the day, and dim the lights an hour or two before bed to signal to your body that it’s time to sleep. Keep your bedroom cool and take a warm bath or shower before bed to help trigger the needed drop in core body temperature. A consistent sleep schedule, even on weekends and on vacation, can also help you sleep more soundly during the summer months. Bottom Line: Simple steps you […]

Mindfulness

Beauty

Personal Growth

Why Smoking Is Making a Comeback Among Gen Z

The Trend: What goes around comes around when it comes to trends and fashion, and it appears we’ve reached the “come around” moment for one that was seemingly gone forever: smoking. Cigarettes are making a comeback, particularly among young Gen Z adults. The resurgence can be attributed to multiple elements: more images of celebs smoking on social media and on the screen, the wave of ’80s and ’90s nostalgia and desire for anything analog, a need for stress relief, and a dose of nihilism and rebellion. What People Are Saying: Public attitude toward smoking also appears to have softened. In November, more than 2,000 New Yorkers smoked cigs together in Central Park for a planned communal “five-minute group smoke.” On social media, people lament the loss of the smoke break, which allowed you to go outside, unwind for a few minutes, and bond with other smokers. What to Know: Anti-smoking campaigns have waned in recent years, so Gen Z hasn’t been as inundated with this messaging like older generations were. It might be recently back in style and have a “good old days” nostalgic vibe, but smoking is still dangerous and still causes cancer and death.

Mindfulness

That Strange Feeling of Déjà Vu — Explained

You Should Know: Most of us have felt it: that weird, spooky “I swear I’ve been in this exact moment before” experience of déjà vu. It can feel freaky, but it usually only lasts for a few seconds. We might chalk it up to one of life’s mysteries or a glitch in the matrix, but there is an explanation for why and how it happens. Going Deeper: The term “déjà vu” translates to “already seen” in French. Scientists think déjà vu happens from a moment of miscommunication between the brain’s hippocampus, which processes new information, and the temporal lobe, which forms and stores memories. This can cause the brain to falsely register a new situation as a memory, especially if it happens in a familiar place. Takeaway: People with certain neurological conditions, including anxiety and schizophrenia, can experience déjà vu more often. It’s more likely to happen when we’re stressed or tired, and it’s more common in people who are highly educated, travel a lot, and often remember their dreams (though it’s not clear why). Bottom Line: Déjà vu feels unsettling, but it’s incredibly common (97% of people have experienced it) and rarely means something is wrong with our brain.

Mindfulness

Why Gen Z Is Taking the Plunge

Mindfulness

Spa therapist massaging a woman's neck and décolletage during a lymphatic drainage treatment, with a gentle water rinse over her skin.

Does Lymphatic Drainage Actually Work? What It Can and Can’t Do

Lymphatic drainage promises to flush toxins and depuff, but does it actually work? We break down what manual lymphatic drainage can do for lymphedema, and why the at-home toxin and weight-loss claims don't hold up to the evidence.

a woman applying facial sunscreen with her face tilted up to the sun

Meet Bemotrizinol, the Sunscreen Filter Americans Have Waited Decades For

The FDA just cleared bemotrizinol, a broad-spectrum UV filter used across Europe and Asia since 1999, marking its first new sunscreen ingredient approval in over two decades. Here's what makes it different and when you might see it on shelves.

Why Does Hair Turn Gray as We Age?