Hello, Yahoo readers! My name is Rachel Grumman Bender, and I’m here to share the best wellness tips to help you feel healthier and brighten up your week.
Supersize portions have been the norm in the U.S. for so long that getting anything less than a heaping plate of food can feel like you’re being shortchanged, especially when you’re dining out. Yahoo contributor Mikaela Conley breaks down how food companies fueled this “bigger is better” trend with value meals, combo deals and all-you-can-eat buffets — and what that’s done to our health. Not surprisingly, oversize portions can contribute to weight gain and raise the risk of chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.
But the mega-meal era may be on its way out thanks to more awareness of healthy eating habits, rising food costs and millions of people on GLP-1 weight loss medications that curb their appetites. Some restaurants are already scaling back on their portion sizes, but if you’re looking to make some changes now, start here: Use smaller plates and cups (I’ve used salad plates instead of giant dinner plates for years), begin your meal with a filling salad and ask for a to-go box at the start and pack part of your meal before digging in.
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Daylight saving time ended today, which means shorter days and earlier sunsets. Check your local forecast before stepping outside. And if you’re curious, look up your horoscope. Then choose “one small thing” to prioritize your health this week. Let’s jump in.
🚶♀️ Take a long walk
There are so many good reasons to step outside and go for a walk: It boosts your mood, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, strengthens your muscles and bones — I could go on. While even a short walk has benefits, new research shows that longer ones are even better when it comes to protecting your heart health, reports NBC News. More specifically, people who walked for 15 minutes or more, rather than taking short strolls throughout the day, were much less likely to develop heart disease or die prematurely within the next decade. “Longer walks likely help by improving blood circulation, lowering blood pressure and supporting glucose control — all key for heart health,” study author Dr. Borja del Pozo Cruz tells CNN.
🚽 Keep the toilet lid closed
If you and your partner have an ongoing argument about whether to leave the toilet lid open or closed, you’ll want to read this: While you may already know it’s a smart move to put down the lid when you flush, experts say it’s best to keep it that way — even when the toilet isn’t being used. That helps prevent the further spread of bacteria in the air. “When the toilet lid is left open, the escape of bioaerosols containing bacteria and viruses is maximal, resulting in widespread contamination of air and surfaces,” Dr. Steven Goldberg, the chief medical officer at HealthTrackRx, tells Southern Living. (We can save the debate about whether the toilet paper roll should be over or under for another day.)
😴 Block out light at bedtime
Bright lights before bed can mess with your rest, but it turns out even dim light in your bedroom overnight could put your heart health at risk. Researchers measured people’s exposure to light between midnight and 6 a.m. and found a link between those who got the most light at night and a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, including coronary artery disease, heart attack, atrial fibrillation and stroke. One possible reason: Exposure to light at night disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm. (On the flipside, the study also found that those exposed to bright light during the day had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, reports Real Simple.) Along with turning off bright screens at least an hour before bed, try wearing a sleep mask or using blackout curtains to block out any ambient light while you snooze.
🍌 Eat these foods to prevent muscle cramps
Whenever I’d get a charley horse, my dad would suggest eating a banana. Turns out, that’s good advice (thanks, Dad!). Muscle cramps can happen for lots of reasons — sometimes it’s because you pushed yourself too hard while exercising or didn’t stretch enough. But EatingWell reports that dehydration and low electrolyte levels can also be to blame. (Electrolytes help your muscles contract and relax.) The fix? Stay hydrated, especially before and after exercising, and get in more electrolytes like potassium, magnesium, sodium and calcium. You don’t need a sugary sports drink to do it, either. Bananas are full of potassium, while avocados and sweet potatoes both deliver potassium and magnesium.
💬 Share happy moments with your partner
If you’ve got good news, don’t keep it to yourself. Spreading a little joy with someone you care about does more than improve your mood — it can also be good for your health, according to a new study. Researchers found that when older couples experience positive emotions together, their levels of the stress hormone cortisol drop. (This held true even if the couple wasn’t particularly happy in the relationship overall.) And the benefits are long-lasting. “When couples felt good together, their cortisol levels stayed lower later in the day,” says lead author of the study Tomiko Yoneda of the University of California Davis. “This suggests that co-experiencing positive emotions might actually help the body stay calmer over time.” While the study looked at older adults, these feel-good benefits can apply to anyone.
🫛 Add more fiber to your diet
Fiber has a bunch of benefits, from keeping you regular and improving digestion to stabilizing blood sugar levels and lowering LDL, aka “bad,” cholesterol. But most people don’t get enough. I follow registered dietitian Dalina Soto, aka your.latina.nutritionst on Instagram, and she recently shared some of her favorite ways to get in more fiber, which include: flaxseed (1 tablespoon has 2 to 3 grams of fiber) and chia seeds (1 tablespoon has 4 to 6 grams of fiber) — both of which you can toss into overnight oats and smoothies — as well as sliced almonds (1/4 cup has 4 grams of fiber) and green beans (1 cup has 2 to 3 grams of fiber). But one food in particular stood out: sweet garden peas, which can pack in 10 grams of fiber in 1 cup.
🥹 Spend a few minutes watching an inspiring video
Feeling down? Turn your mood around by putting on an inspiring video. In a new study, led by Robin Nabi of the University of California, Santa Barbara, people who spent three to five minutes watching “underdog narratives, in which a person overcomes adversity to succeed,” felt more hopeful and less stressed after — and those positive feelings lasted over the next 10 days. One easy way to maintain a positive mindset is by curating your social media feed: “Make an effort that the first couple of things that you search for every day are things that are going to put you in a positive frame,” media researcher Allison Eden of Michigan State University (who was not involved in the study) tells NPR. Try searching for uplifting content, like adorable baby Halloween costumes, fun dance videos or feel-good news stories, to start your day on a brighter note.
👖 Declutter your closet
A cluttered closet can be overwhelming — and let’s be honest, most of us are hanging onto clothes that never get worn or no longer fit. Streamlining your wardrobe can mean less stress and decision fatigue, while saving you precious time in the morning. But actually parting with certain pieces can be surprisingly hard. TikToker Aimee Reiff, who is doing a series on decluttering your closet, offers an interesting explanation: the endowment effect, which she says is our “tendency to overvalue what we own simply because we own it” — even if we no longer need it. To make letting go easier, Reiff recommends asking yourself these questions: If you didn’t already own this piece of clothing, would you buy it now? If you lost your luggage and this item was inside, would you miss it or repurchase it? If a friend were cleaning out their closet and offered you this item, would you be excited, or would you pass?
♨️ Warm up before exercising outdoors
If it’s chilly outside, but you don’t want to skip your outdoor nature walk or morning jog, try doing your pre-exercise warmup indoors, suggests the Independent. Cold temperatures cause your blood vessels to constrict and leave your muscles feeling stiff — not exactly what you want before exercising. Doing a 10-minute warmup in your home, such as stretches (like bringing your knee to your chest or touching your toes), arm circles and jumping jacks, raises your body’s core temperature and boosts blood flow to your muscles before you face the brisk outdoor air.
