Toss your expired sunscreen, walk at least 78 minutes a day and try Scandinavian sleeping — plus 8 more health tips to help you have a great week
Hello, Yahoo readers! My name is Kaitlin Reilly, and I'm here to share the best wellness tips from around the internet.
Everybody wants to be healthy and fit. And, hey, maybe your summer vacation entails detoxing at a swanky wellness spa in the Alps. If it doesn't, that's OK too. Healthy living doesn't have to be a huge overhaul (which feels super-daunting); it can be making a series of simple, easily achievable changes that add up to major improvement. Like eating baby carrots three times a week or spending 30 minutes 'Japanese walking' before dinner.
One small thing you can start with: Change your popcorn order the next time you're catching a summer blockbuster at the cineplex. As dietitian Lauren Manaker recently wrote for Yahoo, it's easier than you think to make healthy snack choices at the movie theater. Instead of nachos with bright orange cheese dip or a slushie, go for chocolate-covered raisins (which, Manaker notes, 'provide natural sugars for energy along with small amounts of fiber and potassium'). And go ahead and enjoy that popcorn (it's got fiber!); just make it a small, and skip the butter. See? You're off to a healthy start already.
To see what the week has in store, take a look at your local weather forecast, and peek at your horoscope too, if you're inclined. Now pick your 'one small thing' that'll make a positive change to your well-being. A few ideas …
☀️ Toss that expired sunscreen
Want to declutter this summer? Start with your expired sunscreen, decluttering expert Marissa Hagmeyer tells Good Housekeeping. Expired sunscreen can lose its effectiveness over time, offering less protection against harmful UV rays and increasing your risk of sunburn and skin damage. 'Finish the summer off strong — sans sunburns — and clear space for products that actually work,' Hagmeyer says. Pick a broad-spectrum sunscreen that has an SPF of 30 or higher, and use it daily. Don't forget to reapply!
🛌🏿 Try Scandinavian sleeping
Share a bed with a partner? If one of you is always hogging the sheets, consider the Scandinavian sleep method, which some people on social media are crediting with saving their marriage and their rest. As Apartment Therapy reports, the method is super-simple: Use two separate duvets (one per person) so that you can better control your sleep temperature and how much blanket you'd like to use throughout the night. No more midnight tug-of-war!
🚶Walk at least 78 minutes a day
The latest reason to lace up your sneakers: Avoiding back pain. As Science Alert reports, a recent Norwegian study published in JAMA Network Open found that people who walked between 78 and 100 minutes a day on average had a reduced risk of developing chronic low back pain when compared with people who walked less than 78 minutes. This remained true even for people who walked at a slow pace.
While 78 minutes may seem like a lot, you can break the minutes up across your day. Consider taking a half-hour stroll in the morning before work, going for a 20-minute walk after lunch (which is also great for your digestion) and wrapping the day with another 30 minutes of strolling in the evening. Too hot outside? Try a walking pad and do some 'cozy cardio' by watching your favorite shows as you get your steps in.
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👟 Size up your shoe
If your feet ache after a long run or hike, your shoes might be to blame — even if they're technically your correct size. Dr. Jeffrey Fleming, a sports medicine physician, tells HuffPost that it's 'normal' for feet to swell after a prolonged time standing, which can make snug shoes feel even tighter. That's why he and other experts recommend sizing up a half-size — or even opting for a wider shoe — if you notice post-workout tightness.
😋 Pick the right midnight snack
Yes, you had dinner. Yes, you're still hungry. And yes, it's time for bed. While midnight snacks can be dicey — sabotaging your sleep and, occasionally, your digestive system — there are safe options, says dietitian Katie Drakeford, a Yahoo contributor. Drakeford suggests going for a snack that supports your sleep, such as foods that contain snooze-inducing magnesium, zinc, tryptophan or melatonin. Consider a cup of Greek yogurt (which contains magnesium and zinc) and a small glass of tart cherry juice, or whip up a turkey and cheese sandwich. What you want to avoid is anything spicy, high in fat or acidic; these can be particularly harsh on your GI system and therefore keep you up.
🚿 Shower at the perfect time — for you
What's better — showering in the morning or at night? The answer depends on your health needs, Harvard sleep expert Shahab Haghayegh tells Time. When you shower at night (ideally for 10 minutes about an hour or two before bed), your body has to cool itself down, making you more ready to sleep. And you may also feel more creative as you suds up, as your brain feels calmer and more uninhibited as you wind down. Plus, Dr. Ranella Hirsch, a dermatologist, adds that it's ideal 'for cleaning the dirt of the day,' including sweat and allergens that can irritate your skin and leave your sheets 'filthy.'
But if you struggle to wake up in the morning, Haghayegh says, you can keep your AM routine, but try lowering your water temperature. Taking a cold shower means your body will become more alert as it warms up, and you can take that energy with you throughout your workday.
🫚 Take a ginger shot for an energy boost
Ginger shots aren't just trendy; they're good for you too, Prevention reports. Ginger contains gingerol, a bioactive anti-inflammatory and antioxidant property that may help with digestion, immunity, joint pain and even menstrual cramps. Plus, while ginger shots don't contain caffeine, the strong flavor of these can wake you up, Dr. Yoshua Quinones explains, calling them 'the best energy booster you'll ever make.'
🍋 Pickle your lemonade
Lemonade is a refreshing summertime beverage, but if you want to kick its hydrating abilities up a notch on a particularly hot day, consider this pickle lemonade recipe from Good Morning America. Dietitian Maura Donovan tells GMA that pickle juice helps maintain fluid balance in the body thanks to its sodium and potassium content. We know what you're thinking: Pickle juice? No thanks! That's where mixing it with lemonade comes in, making the drink sweeter and more palatable.
🫧 Hand-wash your plastic
It's tempting to toss every kitchen item into the dishwasher for easy cleaning, but you should rethink throwing your dirty plastic containers and utensils in with your load, experts said in a Prevention report that cited a study linking this to microplastic pollution. That's a problem because more and more research is coming out about how these tiny pieces of plastic can increase our risk of various health issues, from heart disease to reproductive problems.
If you've got plastic items, grab a sponge and wash them by hand (dishwashers are more abrasive and likely to degrade plastic). Or better yet, phase out the plastic stuff, and look for kitchen basics in materials like glass or bamboo.
📓 Write down your wins
Does it ever feel like you have a harsh inner critic who just won't quit? If you constantly dismiss compliments, feel crushed by even the gentlest feedback or compare yourself to everyone else's highlight reel, you might have an 'inferiority complex,' experts tell Self. One way to combat that? Therapist Charmaine Bryant says you should write down your wins. That way, when you have times of self-doubt, you have something tangible to go back to that will show your brain you're more than what you're struggling with in the moment. Start with a list in your Notes app that you can access throughout the day — like, say, after a stressful work meeting.
🍈 Eat more cantaloupe
Cantaloupe may seem like a fruit salad filler, but you shouldn't overlook it, experts tell USA Today. This summer fruit is loaded with nutrients that support hydration, immunity and digestion. Many of those benefits come from the very same thing that gives the melon its beautiful orange color: beta-carotene, dietitian Monica D'Agostino explains. Once in the body, beta-carotene converts to vitamin A, which promotes eye health and blood cell production and helps 'fight free radicals,' she notes. Plus, one cup of cantaloupe exceeds your daily vitamin A needs — and it has lots of fiber and water, which can aid your digestion.
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As you can see in the nightly sample below, Oura reported 6 hours and 42 hours of total sleep, while Sleep Number reported 6 hours and 44 minutes. Oura said I spent 44 minutes awake, while Sleep Number reported 38 minutes of restlessness. While it's hard to pinpoint the exact moment on either app, both Sleep Number and Oura reported my sleep and wake times within minutes of each other. Comparison of my sleep data from the Oura Ring (left) and the Sleep Number ClimateCool bed (right). Aly Lopez/CNET/Oura/Sleep Number Oura indicated my total time in bed was 7 hours and 25 minutes, while Sleep Number noted 7 hours and 35 minutes. Sleep Number gave me a SleepIQ score of 80; Oura gave me a 78. As expected, there were nights when the data did not match this well. In those scenarios, Sleep Number almost always displayed the more generous sleep scores and total time slept. Part of this discrepancy is because the Sleep Number smart bed occasionally assumes I've fallen asleep while watching television or reading, while Oura recognizes I have not yet entered dreamland. The bed may sometimes mistake Dillon's body movements or our dog's as mine, whereas our Oura rings don't have that issue. Read more: I Tested Three Sleep Trackers for 30 Days. Here's the One I'd Actually Use Sleep data compared External factors occasionally affected our sleep quality, resulting in data that didn't accurately reflect Oura or Sleep Number's tracking capabilities. An example is when I'd fall asleep on the couch and then move to the bed in the middle of the night. There were a few nights when I put my ring on its charger and forgot to put it back on before falling asleep. Additionally, factors like illness or menstrual cramps sometimes make me uncomfortable enough to sleep somewhere other than our smart bed. I excluded these nights to ensure the accuracy of this comparison. 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Oura reported my average heart rate variability to be 64, while Sleep Number reported it as 124. This discrepancy isn't necessarily because one brand is more accurate than the other, but because they calculate HRV differently. Both measure the time intervals between heartbeats throughout the night, but Oura uses a method called Root Mean Square of Successive Differences, while Sleep Number uses Standard Deviation of NN Intervals. Regardless of how it's calculated, higher HRV numbers are considered better, indicating good recovery and physical adaptability. Lower HRV numbers can be indicative of high stress levels, dehydration, alcohol consumption, poor sleep and more. Here's an example of the biosignals reported in Sleep Number's monthly summary. Aly Lopez/CNET/Sleep Number Why does tracking your sleep matter? As Vanessa Hill, PhD, sleep research and specialist, explains, "Tracking your sleep can offer helpful insights into what happens after your head hits the pillow. For many of us, sleep can feel poor quality, maybe because of fragmented sleep or nighttime awakenings. Tracking can show whether you're actually getting the recommended 7 to 9 hours a night." Observing your biosignals over time helps explain how your habits and lifestyle impact your sleep quality and patterns. For instance, my sleep quality on nights after consuming alcohol, not exercising during the day or going to bed later than usual is always worse, and it's reflected in my lower HRV numbers on both trackers. "What's more valuable than a single night's data is looking at sleep trends over time. A month or more of sleep tracking gives a better picture of your overall sleep health," adds Hill. If you're just beginning your sleep tracking journey, making sense of all the numbers can be overwhelming. 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Compatibility: Check that it works well with your smartphone or other devices to access the data without challenges. Check that it works well with your smartphone or other devices to access the data without challenges. Reliability: Some devices have been well-tested and approved by the FDA for sleep monitoring, while others are more general consumer products. Some devices have been well-tested and approved by the FDA for sleep monitoring, while others are more general consumer products. Privacy: Understand how your data is stored and shared. Ultimately, the best tracker is one you'll wear regularly, and that makes accessing and understanding your data simple.' The bottom line If you have a Sleep Number bed and are wondering how accurate the sensors are, I'm pleased to share that they appear pretty dang precise. I had not been expecting the results of this 30-night comparison between the Oura Ring 4 and Sleep Number ClimateCool smart bed to be so similar. Still, there's much more room for error with trackers like smart beds and mattress covers compared to a wearable worn tightly on your body. If you're looking for one of the more accurate sleep trackers, I recommend opting for a wearable like Oura or Whoop -- but as Hill put it, "Choosing a sleep tracker really comes down to comfort and budget. Choose what works best for you, including something you'll actually use."
Fast Company
14 minutes ago
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Pura Scents recalls more than 850,000 diffuser covers over ingestion hazard to children
Pura Scents is recalling more than 850,000 diffuser covers because some magnets may detach and cause a possible ingestion hazard to children. The company is recalling the detachable covers for about 851,400 Pura 4 Smart Home Fragrance Diffusers. It said an additional 1,100 were sold in Canada. Pura Scents said that the magnets on the inside cover of the product can detach, posing an ingestion hazard to children. When high-powered magnets are swallowed, the ingested magnets can attract each other, or other metal objects, and become lodged in the digestive system. This can result in perforations, twisting or blockage of the intestines, infection, blood poisoning and death. The company has received three reports of magnets detaching from the cover. No injuries have been reported. The diffusers were sold at Target, Scheels and other stores nationwide from August 2023 through May 2025 for about $50. They were also sold online through Pura's website, as well as online at Amazon, Target and Scheels. Pura Scents is offering a free replacement cover. Consumers are advised to immediately dispose of the existing detachable cover and to keep the diffusers out of the reach of children and pets. To receive the free replacement cover, individuals may contact Pura Scents at 855-394-5292 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT Monday through Friday. The company can also be emailed at replacement@ Consumers may also visit the company's website and click on 'Recall' at the bottom of the page for more information.
