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This Is Your Brain on Silence - Issue 16: Nothingness - Nautilus

7 Simple Exercises That Undo the Damage of Sitting

If you’re like most men living and working in a techno-service economy, you probably spend a good deal of your day sitting down. You go from the kitchen table to your desk at work to your chair in front of the TV.

Why Walking Helps Us Think

In Vogue’s 1969 Christmas issue, Vladimir Nabokov offered some advice for teaching James Joyce’s “Ulysses”: “Instead of perpetuating the pretentious nonsense of Homeric, chromatic, and visceral chapter headings, instructors should prepare maps of Dublin with Bloom’s and Stephen’s inter

The Real Roots of Midlife Crisis

This summer, a friend called in a state of unhappy perplexity. At age 47, after years of struggling to find security in academia, he had received tenure. Instead of feeling satisfied, however, he felt trapped. He fantasized about escape. His reaction had taken him by surprise. It made no sense.

We Are Giving Ourselves Cancer

DESPITE great strides in prevention and treatment, cancer rates remain stubbornly high and may soon surpass heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States.

'Why Am I Dead?' He Never Asked. Here's The Answer He Never Heard

Shara Yurkiewicz is a med student. She's doing rounds now, moving from department to department. Much of what she sees, she's seeing for the first time. Not yet a doctor, there are moments, many moments when she has the eyes of a patient. She gets scared. She feels helpless. She's too involved.

5 shocking reasons why Americans are getting fatter

This article originally appeared on AlterNet. Americans have become huge. Between the 1960s and the 2000s, Americans grew, on the average, an inch taller and 24 pounds heavier. The average American man today weights 194 pounds and the average woman 165 pounds.

What the Exercise Habit Did For Me

There was a point in my life, back in 2005 and earlier, when I couldn’t exercise regularly. I really wanted to, I knew I should, but I couldn’t. Some of you might be in this boat today.

Why dieting doesn't usually work

In the US, 80% of girls have been on a diet by the time they're 10 years old. In this honest, raw talk, neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt uses her personal story to frame an important lesson about how our brains manage our bodies, as she explores the science behind why dieting not only doesn't work, but is likely to do more harm than good. She suggests ideas for how to live a less diet-obsessed life, intuitively.

The Biggest Lessons I've Learned from Managing Anxiety

Six million Americans have panic disorder. Forty million have an anxiety disorder. So, if you're struggling with anxiety, you're absolutely not alone. Knowing how others manage their anxiety can be helpful. Below are the biggest lessons individuals have learned over the years.

How Long Have I Got Left?

AS soon as the CT scan was done, I began reviewing the images. The diagnosis was immediate: Masses matting the lungs and deforming the spine. Cancer. In my neurosurgical training, I had reviewed hundreds of scans for fellow doctors to see if surgery offered any hope.

Health Tip: Find Purpose in Life

There are a handful of junctures in life when a person’s sense of purpose is prone to twinkle and fade. In unemployment or professional stagnation; in financial or romantic straits, or after the death of a loved one; and, predictably, in retirement.

The 8-hour rule is bunk: Why conventional wisdom about sleep is stressing us out

I’ve always been at odds with sleep. Starting around adolescence, morning became a special form of hell. Long school commutes meant rising in 6am darkness, then huddling miserably near the bathroom heating vent as I struggled to wrest myself from near-paralysis.

My No-Soap, No-Shampoo, Bacteria-Rich Hygiene Experiment - NYTimes.com

How to Get in Shape Using Psychology: 6 New Tricks From Research

Why is there an obesity epidemic? It’s not because we eat the wrong things or we lack exercise. Reported consumption increased by 268 calories for men and 143 calories for women between the two surveys.

This Is What Looking Down at Your Cell Phone Does to Your Spine

Our cell phones and tablets have transformed the way we hold our bodies—and not for the better. Looking down at your device is like having a 60-pound weight on your neck, according to a spine surgeon.

What We Eat Affects Everything

How men and women digest differently, diet changes our skin, and gluten remains mysterious: A forward-thinking gastroenterologist on eating one's way to "gutbliss"By Robynne Chutkan, MD, is an integrative gastroenterologist and founder of the Digestive Center for Women, just outside of Washington, D

Bad sleep 'dramatically' alters body

A run of poor sleep can have a potentially profound effect on the internal workings of the human body, say UK researchers.The activity of hundreds of genes was altered when people's sleep was cut to less than six hours a day for a week.

Culprit in Heart Disease Goes Beyond Meat’s Fat

It was breakfast time and the people participating in a study of red meat and its consequences had hot, sizzling sirloin steaks plopped down in front of them. The researcher himself bought a George Foreman grill for the occasion, and the nurse assisting him did the cooking.

How Sunscreen Works (And Why You're Wrong About It)

Your skin shouldn't look like a package of pork cracklins after spending the day outdoors; that's why we invented sunscreen. However, there's a right way and a wrong way to slather on your protection—screw it up and you could get burned.

This Is Your Brain on Gluten

A No. 1 bestseller by a respected physician argues that gluten and carbohydrates are at the root of Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, depression, and ADHD. What to make of the controversial theory? So asks Dr.

Getting Into Your Exercise Groove

Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness. This isn’t meant as an insult, but you are physiologically lazy. So am I. So are we all.

The 10 Habits of Highly Unflabby People

So you want to keep an eye on the old waistline, but you hate diets. Join the club. Rather than give you recipes for yummy quinoa-kelp granola, we suggest following these simple rules, rituals, and metabolic sleights of hand.

My Year At A Standing Desk And Why I’ll Never Go Back

Fast Company Web Producer Cia Bernales made the switch to a standing desk a year ago. She shares why she’s never going back to a regular office chair and how her posture got a new angle. 5 minute ReadEditor’s Note: This is one of the most-read leadership articles of 2014.

How to Improve Your Posture in Just 5 Minutes

Do you ever recount seeing them slouching or maintaining bad posture even once? Maintaining proper posture is more than just about spine or wrist health. It’s a reflection of your inner feelings.

The Best Workout Videos on YouTube

We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Here’s our process.

How Exercise Changes Your Brain To Be Better At Basically Everything

Recent studies have revealed more complex and nuanced ways in which exercise activates and affects the brain. 3 minute ReadEditor’s Note: This story is part of 5 Habits Changes You Can Actually Make In 2015. Check out the full list here.

Find a Quick Exercise Routine You Can Actually Stick to This Weekend

Exercise: most of us hate it and wish we did it more often. The key? Finding a routine that doesn't take too long but also doesn't try to pack two hours of work into four minutes, leaving you feel like you're lucky to be alive.

How Exercise Can Calm Anxiety

Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.

This 7-Minute, Research-Based Workout Exercises Your Whole Body

Don't have an hour or even twenty minutes to exercise each day? You might not need it. This routine of 12 exercises is a complete workout based on the latest fitness research—and it only takes 7 minutes.

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