To Shave or Not to Shave? A Growing Bacterial Question
A cross-sectional study published in The Journal of Hospital Infection (2014) uncovered some unusual results after swabbing for bacteria in bearded and clean-shaven participants. The study involved 408 hospital staff, both shaved and unshaved, to compare facial bacterial colonization rates, according to the study. The study could be significant to tracking the ever-present bacteria transferred between staff and patients...
Should You Sleep More or Less in the Winter?
Snowy days, warm beds, cold nights and dark mornings make it easy to linger in bed. According to data collected by an app called Sleep Cycle, the urge to sleep more during the winter is common. Many adults report feeling sluggish and tired during the winter. But does this mean you actually need more sleep during the winter, or...
8 Reasons Fiber Is Vital to Your Diet, and 3 Ways to Tell If You Have Enough
A lack of fiber in your diet can cause major damage over the long term. This indigestible substance may seem like just a filler, but it actually serves a number of essential functions in the body. Fiber protects your heart: A 1999 study performed at Northwestern University and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that adding...
French Grocery Store Chain Promotes Bulk Buying and Prevents Tons of Waste
These days, it seems like every time we go to the grocery store, we come home with more plastic packaging than actual food! Even if we buy fresh produce and not the processed stuff, it's often still in bags or plastic shell containers, cinched with tape or twist ties. Plastic, plastic, plastic! Where does all that plastic end up? Unfortunately,...
Do This to Calculate How Much Solar Panels Will Save You
If you have already decided that installing solar panels on your rooftop is not an economically viable option, you may want to check again. In an effort to help homeowners understand the financial benefits of solar energy, Google has launched an online tool that calculates the advantages and risks of solar panels for residential homes across the country. The...
DIY Beauty Pack: Blush, Bronzer, Lipstick and Eyeshadow
Making your own beauty products sounds incredibly daunting, doesn't it? As it turns out, however, like most natural substitutions, they are easier to make than you might think! As most conventional beauty products are full of chemicals (yes, even the "natural" ones), it just makes sense to make your own! These DIY beauty products also make excellent gifts. Why use natural...
Do This for a Healthy Gut and Clear Mind
How does the mind naturally improve digestive health? According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), digestive disease affects 60 to 70 million people a year. From inflammation and ulcers to constipation and cancer, how you “feel” on the inside affects your life. So, let’s get to the belly of the matter and begin to use our minds to...
Alternative Plastic Toilet With Life-Changing Potential
At 23, Jasmine Burton decided to make a difference in how people live — and go to the bathroom. When Burton was a freshman at Georgia Institute of Technology, she became disturbed by the lack of toilets available in the world, approximately 2.5 billion people going without. “Young girls in the developing world frequently drop out of school because...
Is Air Pollution as Deadly as the Black Death?
A campaign group fighting for better air quality in London has suggested that diesel exhaust fumes could be impacting the city’s population on a similar scale to the Black Death. The London Air Quality Network, a source of information about air quality in London, claims the city has much higher levels of air pollution than the limits set by the...
How to Take Advantage of the Time Change for Better Health
Every year, I feel like the time change completely destroys my body's rhythm for up to a couple months after we wind back the clock. I find the transition away from daylight saving and the transition to daylight saving equally hard. During both changes, I feel exhausted, weak, and behind schedule. However, according to Mohsin Maqbool, the medical director of...
