Renee Yang

Did you know that journaling can help our bodies mentally and physically? Here is why journaling is the ultimate self-care tool for nourishing your body and soul.

Self-care is currently having a moment, and journaling seems to be making a comeback along with it! But aside from giving us an outlet for our emotions, does journaling have actual health benefits?

Well, as we’ve become more educated about mental health, scientists are finding that the benefits of journaling extend much further than what meets the eye. In addition to boosting our creativity and productivity, journaling can help regulate our mood and improve our long-term health!

How? Here’s the science behind it.

Samantha. M

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As a dad with a daughter, you may feel a bit anxious as she nears puberty. It can be especially difficult for dads who have no personal experience with things like menstruation. From a dad’s point of view, periods and the hormonal changes that women experience during puberty can be downright mystifying. Naturally, talking about these things may be something that you are not looking forward to.

You probably don’t even want to think about your little girl growing up, but it’s happening. And her first period will happen, too. This event is challenging for both dads and daughters, but it is one that you will both survive. Periods can be awkward, painful, and even frightening. Your daughter’s first period also signals the beginning of a very important time in her life, and while the topic may be uncomfortable, periods aren’t inherently a bad thing.  

If you have a daughter who is between the ages of 9 and 15 or so, the big day could come at any time. Take some time to prepare yourself so that you’ll know exactly what to do the first time Aunt Flo stops by for a visit. Keep reading for some helpful advice regarding your daughter’s first period from a dad’s point of view.

J.B.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines toxicity as:

1. The quality, state, or relative degree of being poisonous
2. An extremely harsh, malicious, or harmful quality

Hmmm.  We’ve all known people like that.  (I can think of one or two myself.)  But what about environmental toxicity.  What is it?  Where does it come from?  What does it do?

Samantha Mittelmeier

Getty / Lalocracio

There are a lot of different forms of birth control to choose from. For many women, an intrauterine device (IUD) is a popular and effective choice. Once inserted, these tiny devices protect you against pregnancy for up to 10 years, and for many women, they make their periods lighter or eliminate them altogether.

If you have decided that this form of birth control is right for you, you likely have some questions regarding what to expect. IUD insertion can seem a bit scary, but it is a very quick and easy process. While you may feel a degree of discomfort during the procedure, there is no need to be afraid. Keep reading to learn what to expect.

Erika.L

Feeling our best is an important aspect of living a happy, healthy lifestyle. When our self-confidence is high, we are often more willing to take the chances that can lead us toward achieving our goals whether that’s buying a new dress or starting a new business. From time to time, our confidence can take a hit due to hormones or stress from work or relationships, thus it’s important to know what to do to regain it when lost. Here are 5 fun activities that help to increase self-confidence, and get us back to feeling our best. 

J.B.

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is the salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid that is naturally present in our bodies and in some foods.  Manufactured MSG, used as a food additive to enhance flavor, is made by the fermentation of starch, sugar beets, sugar can or molasses.

Is MSG bad for you?  The answer depends on who you ask.

MSG is a hot topic of controversy these days, with “experts” unable to agree on much of anything.

Samantha Mittelmeier

Since more than 90 percent of women experience at least one PMS symptom prior to the beginning of their period, it’s no surprise that those symptoms are pretty well known. Nearly every woman is familiar with the moodiness, bloating, cramps, headaches, and general discomfort that tend to pop up every 28 days or so.

For most women, these symptoms are relatively minor and are not a significant cause for concern. Others, however, face much more severe complications when their periods roll around each month. Between three and five percent of the menstruating population suffer from a debilitating condition known as premenstrual dysmorphic disorder, or PMDD. This condition is an extension of PMS that includes a range of troubling emotional and behavioral symptoms.

Heather Silvers

Have you ever caught yourself fretting about why your period is late? Before you head to the local pharmacy to pick up a home pregnancy test, it’s best to consider other reasons why your monthly cycle could be off. Not every late period means you’re pregnant. Irregular cycles are more common than you think. University of California Professor of Obstetrics-Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences Dr. Amy Autry discussed how at least 30% of women have irregular periods during their childbearing years. Another report published by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism cites that many women experience occasional period irregularities throughout their reproductive years. While many women may experience late periods, the factors causing it can greatly vary. Below, we’ll take a look at the reasons why your period could be late.

J.B.

If you thought your skin was acting up just before or around the time of your period, you’re not imagining it.  According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, “a significant number of adult women have perimenstrual acne symptoms”.   There are also some women suffering eczema or psoriasis that seems to get worse around the time of their period.

J.B.

Nanotechnology is, according to one government site, “science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers”. (A nanometer is really, really small – it takes more than 25 million of them to make an inch.)

Richard Feynman, an American physicist, is credited with having introduced the concept of nanotechnology in 1959, although the term “nanotechnology” wasn’t coined until 1981.  Feynman’s idea was that things could be made much smaller.  For instance, in 1959 computers were massive; some of them weighed literally tons and took up entire rooms.  Feynman theorized that they could be made much smaller using nanotechnology.   He was bang on about that.  Computers keep getting smaller, faster, and better with nanotechnology.

Apart from not having to build an extra wing to your house for your home computer, there are many other applications of nanotechnology in use and in development. 

J.B.

A woman’s menstrual cycle has three phases:  the follicular (before the egg is released), ovulatory (when the egg is released) and luteal (after the egg is released).  Each of these phases is regulated by different hormones, primarily estrogen, progesterone, FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), and LH (luteinizing hormone). 

These hormones work in concert with each other and with other hormones, much like the members of a sports team will work together, each performing a separate role in coordination with the other team members.

Kaitlyn Luckow

Male masturbation is usually the brunt of jokes, it’s assumed that all guys do it, and it’s totally fine to talk about and admit.

However, I have found that when women talk about masturbating, people are shocked and it is seen as something dirty or embarrassing. It’s something that is hushed, it’s not talked about, and it makes women afraid of their own bodies.

To be honest (and this is a little embarrassing), I didn’t even know that females could masturbate until I was well into puberty.  

There is a lot of misinformation out there about female masturbation and it causes a lot of myths to rise up around the subject. This can make learning about the female body confusing for a lot of young women and even daunting.   

I wanted to clear the air here. Yes, women masturbate. Yes, it’s awesome. Yes, we can talk about it.

Here are some common myths surrounding female masturbation and the truth behind the lies.

Kaitlyn Luckow

As this month comes to an end, we wanted to talk about something that is near and dear to our hearts: Endometriosis Awareness Month.

Endometriosis, like many women’s health problems, has gone wildly untalked about. Many women go through life experiencing intense pain and thinking that it’s just normal for them to have to live with that pain. Because of this, many women around the world don’t know that what they’re experiencing is abnormal and many go undiagnosed when in reality, they are suffering from Endometriosis.

Your pain is not normal.

176 million women (that’s 10% of women) around the world have suffered and continue to suffer from a disease that has a huge impact on their daily lives.

PMS is the medical acronym for premenstrual syndrome.   You know, that time before your period when you feel tired, fat, and cranky.

The Mayo Clinic has a long, long list of symptoms of PMS including fatigue, weight gain, bloating, anxiety, depression, insomnia, on and on. Some sources say that “up to 150 symptoms have been identified as part of premenstrual syndrome”.   And if it gets really bad, PMS graduates to PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder), not that having an extra letter is going to make anyone feel better.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, PMS symptoms can appear in the one to two weeks before your period.

Wow!  What a miserable way to spend one or two weeks out of every month.  PMS  should actually stand for “Please! Make it Stop!”

J.B.

There’s no such thing as a good time to get a urinary tract infection.  But getting a UTI at the same time as your period?  Oh, no!

The urinary tract is a brilliant drainage system for getting rid of excess fluid.   The kidneys remove extra fluid from the blood to make urine.  The urine travels from the kidneys to the bladder through tubes called ureters.  The bladder stores the urine and then drains it through another little tube called the urethra.  But like any other complex system, things can occasionally go wrong.

J.B.

What is an irregular menstrual cycle?  Well, that kind of depends on who you ask, but the medical consensus seems to be that a “normal” menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, give or take seven days.  A cycle is considered to be irregular if it occurs more often than every 21 days or if bleeding goes on longer than 8 days.  Early or late periods, and missed periods are also considered to be irregular.

How common is an irregular menstrual cycle?  According to Dr. Amy Autry, Professor of Obstetrics-Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, “at least 30% of women have irregular periods during their childbearing years”.  A 2011 report published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism confirms that many women occasionally experience irregular periods all throughout their reproductive years.

But what causes irregular periods?  Well, like most things, there isn’t just one answer.  The menstrual cycle can be influenced by a number of factors.

J.B.

How often have you heard (or said) “they grow up so fast”?  It’s true.  Kids do grow up quickly and, in terms of the onset of menstruation, it’s speeding up.

According to Sandra Steingraber, the average menstruation onset age has been steadily lessening over the last number of decades.  90 years ago, the average age was 14; 50 years ago the average was 13-1/2 years old; these days it’s 12-1/2 years old.  And it is not unheard of for girls as young as 8 or 9 to get their period.  She claims that, furthermore, half of the girls in the United States now show signs of breast budding before their tenth birthday. 

The exact reasons for this have not been established.  It is held by some “experts” that lowered rates of disease and better nutrition are factors.  But others claim that endocrine-disruptive chemicals in food, drinking water and even the air along with hormonally active agents found in a vast array of consumer items such as hair tonics, pesticides, packaging materials and building products are affecting hormonal balance.  Still, others link it to obesity.

Kaitlyn Luckow

While the holidays are known for being a time of joy and cheer, oftentimes we can also feel a strong sense of sadness and loneliness. We can feel it because we miss family members, we can feel it because of the trauma dealing with family causes, or even just because there’s not as much sunlight during the day.

Whatever the reason, seasonal and holiday sadness is a very real thing and shouldn’t be pushed aside. It can be even more hostile towards individuals who already have a mental illness such as depression.

Although it may not be possible to avoid entirely, here are some ways that can help you survive seasonal sadness this holiday season: