Topic: anti-aging

The Benjamin Button Effect: Research Says Exercise Can Keep You Young

The Benjamin Button Effect: Research Says Exercise Can Keep You Young

Research about exercise and aging is confusing; so many of us would prefer to find immortality in a bottle than hard work, that any studies disproving the theory that weight lifting and running can keep you young are blown way out of proportion. Despite overwhelming evidence that exercise can have a “Benjamin Button Effect,” scientists who differ can easily justify our desire to stay home fro the gym, and get more than their due share of time in the spotlight as a result. So to set the record straight, Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky of McCaster University in Ontario just published a remarkable study proving that exercise can keep you young. More »

CBS Reporter Serene Branson Had Migraine Aura, Not Stroke: What’s the Difference?

CBS Reporter Serene Branson Had Migraine Aura, Not Stroke: What's the Difference?

Los Angeles residents who tuned into their local CBS news after last Sunday’s Grammy Awards found themselves watching what appeared to be news correspondent Serene Branson having an on-air stroke. Seconds after picking up a live shot from the red carpet, Branson’s speech became garbled and slurred. Producers quickly cut away from the clearly scared and disoriented reporter to a pre-taped segment, leaving viewers to wonder – what the hell had just happened?

Yesterday, doctors announced that Branson had suffered a migraine aura, not a stroke. UCLA’s Dr. Andrew Charles told the Los Angeles Times that Branson showed signs of dysphasic language dysfunction – “[t]he victim knows what she or he wants to say, ‘but can’t come up with the words’” – as well as blurred vision and numbness of the face. More »

Why It’s Not Easy Being a Really Tall Woman

Why It's Not Easy Being a Really Tall Woman

Beginning in nursery school, I was always the girl in the back row of all boys in the class photo. I was sturdy, strong, and very tall — built much more like the active, rough males than my willowy, fragile female classmates.

At just a smidge under 5’11” — the short side for tall women — I’ve suffered plenty of discomfort and humiliation in life thus far. Pants are often too short on me, and one wrongful wash of a new shirt sends it to my pile of items to give to shorter female friends. Movie and airplane seats usually have next to no legroom for me, and I find myself persistently, though accidentally, kicking others underneath restaurant tables. Sometimes my dates have to reach up high to properly say goodnight.

I own just one pair of heels. They are simple, polished, shiny, and black. At two inches high, most women of normal stature wouldn’t even consider them to be heels. They stay in my closet unless by some unfortunate reason I need to wear a suit; then I put them on. The suit is often worn to a job interview or an important meeting and I make an excellent, capable impression by tottering — and one time tripping — in my rookie heels. This means that most of the time I just stay in flats that are as flat as possible. It’s safer for everyone. More »

Superfood Role Models: 10 Celebrities Who Drink Green Juice

Superfood Role Models: 10 Celebrities Who Drink Green Juice

We don’t always believe in taking health and beauty advice from celebrities (especially when they’re shilling for questionable beauty treatments or acting as spokesperson for the unproven health benefits of milk), but when they’re telling us to eat our vegetables, it’s hard to deny their wisdom. With several beautiful celebrities, smart doctors, and qualified nutritionists telling us to drink our greens for lower cholesterol, anti-aging benefits, and better digestion, we’re starting to think they’re onto something. (Plus, we just read Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Diet, and she makes yet another convincing case for getting your superfoods and greens through a straw.) More »

All Your Money for a Youthful Face: Beauty Products No One Needs

All Your Money for a Youthful Face: Beauty Products No One Needs

Wow, we’re feeling particularly wrinkly today. We’d better get out our wallets and write a check for half a grand, because there’s a product we’re just dying to smear all over our aging faces. It’s Kate Somerville’s Deep Tissue Repair Cream. Wait — you don’t have $500 lying around to spend on five ounces of skin cream? That’s just insane. Haven’t you been putting money in a wrinkly-face fund all of these years?
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The Pose That Smooths Wrinkles? Magazines That Give Fitness a Bad Name

The Pose That Smooths Wrinkles? Magazines That Give Fitness a Bad Name

Sometimes, magazines are full of exercise tips that can really get you strong and fit (and, if you’re lucky, looking a little more buff). But sometimes, they’re full of exercise tips like this one, from the September issue of Health Magazine. The Pose That Smooths Wrinkles? Come on, people. Yoga can be one of the toughest workouts we’ve ever tried, but suggesting that tilting your head upside down on a mat can make your wrinkles go away is exactly why certain skeptics laugh off yoga as just a bunch of new-agey stretches. We thought we liked Kristin McGee (yoga instructor to Tina Fey), but we wish she’d dish out some real yoga tips instead of trying to catch the attention of women who want to look good without putting in the work. More »

Oh, Please: Overpriced Beauty Products No One Needs

Oh, Please: Overpriced Beauty Products No One Needs

Osmotics Blue Copper 5 Firming Elasticity Repair

8 ounces

$325, Lord and Taylor

5-chain Pentapeptide is a group of five amino acids that has been shown to reduce wrinkles and increase skin firmness. Obviously, a lot of women are willing to dole out a pretty penny for younger looking skin, but come on — $325 for eight ounces? Is it because of the cool packaging? Because, yeah — we’ll admit that the packaging is pretty futuristic.

Here’s a shocker: You can find this much-lauded compound in other products that won’t cost you almost half your rent. Of course, they don’t come in frosted glass containers and they aren’t blue, but they also might not contain retinyl palmitate, a type of vitamin A that researchers think accelerates the growth of skin cancer. Ms. Futuristic must have missed that memo.
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