Surviving COVID-19 is one thing. Becoming healthy again is another. Recent studies have found that even people who didn’t seem to have life-threatening cases show signs of damage to their heart. We don’t know what…
Health
Can Liquid Chalk Really Double as a Hand Sanitizer?
To protect ourselves from the coronavirus, the CDC recommends keeping your hands as clean as possible, including using hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol when hand washing is not possible. Liquid chalk, used by…
Use Your Chair for a Home Workout
Welcome to the last of our fitness challenge posts for the month. I hope you’ve enjoyed these mini breaks from your day, even though they’re sometimes a little silly. Today, I have a challenge that’s…
The List of Toxic Hand Sanitizers Is Up to 94 Products [Updated]
Hand sanitizers that are effective against the coronavirus are those that include at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol. But there are a few brands that use methanol, a more toxic type of alcohol, and…
How to Volunteer for a Coronavirus Vaccine Study
The first phase 3 trial of a coronavirus vaccine began this week, with plans to enroll 30,000 volunteers by the time it’s over—and more phase 3 trials are likely to begin soon. While we’re all…
If We Can’t Open Sports Safely, What Hope Is There for Opening Schools?
As I read the many pages of our district’s return-to-school plans, I only had two questions in mind: How will you know if somebody has the coronavirus? and Assuming that the virus makes it into…
HIPAA Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Ask People Why They Aren’t Wearing a Mask
The law known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, is hugely misunderstood. And the latest people to misunderstand it are anti-maskers who claim that it’s illegal to ask them why they’re…
What I Learned From Four Months of Lifting Outdoors
Ever since gyms closed in March, I’ve been working out at home. And since my house doesn’t have a suitable place for many of the exercises I like to do, I’ve mainly been lifting outside.…
Get Out of Your Chair and Do Some Downward Dogs
The yoga pose known as downward dog is, I’ve always thought, one of the weirdest moves that’s considered relatively easy for beginners. Any intro yoga course is going to have a ton of them. But…
It’s Even More Important to Get Your Flu Shot This Year
I told you all in January: if you’re worried about the coronavirus—at that point it wasn’t in the US yet, but people were already freaking out—use that nervous energy to get off your butt and…
How to Know When It’s Time for New Running Shoes
You’re supposed to replace running shoes every 300 to 500 miles, the running shoe companies tell us. If you follow their recommendations, you’ll be throwing out shoes that may still look brand-new. How do you…
Why You Can Smell a Fart Through a Mask
As that anti-masker having a tantrum in a Panera pointed out, you can smell a fart even though it passes through the fabric of your pants. Her point seems to be that fabric cannot block air,…
How to Meditate With Headspace on Snapchat
Spending lots of hours scrolling on social media and clicking through photos, videos and stories is arguably the opposite of mindfulness, but now you can multitask, at least on Snapchat. The new Headspace Mini comes…
How to Choose a Prenatal Vitamin
Choosing a prenatal is one of the first of many decisions moms-to-be make, and it isn’t an easy one. The ingredient list can be confusing, the pills themselves are large, and they come in a…
It’s Time to Reduce Stress With Some Virtual Forest Bathing
Taking a walk in a forest can been deeply calming. Even if it’s just off the beaten path and you’re swatting mosquitoes away, you’re someplace different than the houses and buildings where you probably spend…
Get Up and Do Some Arm Circles
Have you been remembering to get up to go for a walk every now and then? Since we talked about it last week, I’ve definitely done more walking than before, but not necessarily in the bite-sized,…