You know the idiom, “listen to your gut”? Turns out, taking it literally can give you some beneficial insight into your own health. That’s because your gut plays a huge role in keeping you healthy.

Your gut is filled with tiny living things like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These are known as microorganisms (microbes, for short), which make up the gut microbiome. Some of these microbes are responsible for keeping you healthy—specifically, to break down food and turn it into the nutrients your body craves—while others can have the opposite effect. We all have a mix of good and bad microbes in our gut, but our (like poor sleep, high alcohol consumption and inactivity) can disrupt the amounts of each and cause health woes. To help Canadians understand why nourishing your gut is so important, Andrea Hardy, registered dietitian and gut health specialist, shares key takeaways from her recent workshop at Activia’s We’ve Got Guts Forum.

Add Probiotics to your Diet

When it comes to building a healthy diet, Hardy suggests focusing on good prebiotics. Specifically, Hardy says you should reach for gut-friendly foods such as fruits with their skins on (like apples and pears), vegetables (particularly artichokes, broccoli, green peas, squash and potatoes with their skin on), whole grains (try brown rice, quinoa and barley), nuts and seeds (your favourites will do), and pulses (think beans, peas and lentils). Incorporate them into each meal, add in a prebiotic and you’ll be feeding your gut all the right stuff. While probiotics are often comsumed as a supplement, you can integrate good microbes into your diet too. Fermented tempeh, kimchi and yogurt like Activia the pioneer of probiotic yogurt in the Danone family of brands, can help you take care of your digestive well-being every day.

Chew x 30

“Digestion starts in the mouth,” says Hardy. Chewing your food produces digestive enzymes that help break down food from larger chunks to smaller ones. This makes it easier for your body to digest the food and easier for it to absorb the essential nutrients. Chew slowly, enjoy your food, and count to 30 for every bite. Your gut will be happy.

Rest Your Gut

“Work on getting 7+ hours of sleep a night, with regular falling-asleep and waking-up times, even on weekends,” says Hardy. That’s because new research found that an inconsistent sleep schedule—even just a 90-minute change to your usual routine—could negatively impact your gut health.

Cut Back on Alcohol

Hardy suggests reducing alcohol intake as recent studies have noted alcohol causes inflammation in the gut and excessive consumption can exacerbate alcohol-related disorders like cancers, liver disease, and neurological diseases. What’s more, alcohol-induced gut inflammation can also lead to a leaky gut, bacterial overgrowth, and more. Does that mean you have to cut out alcohol entirely? Not if you don’t want to. Moderate alcohol consumption (about one drink a day for women) is unlikely to disrupt your gut microbiome.

Get Moving

Oh, the power of exercise! We all know it does our mind and body good, but did you know it also positively impacts our innards, too? Studies suggest that moving your body can boost the number of good microbes in the gut. A warning: If you’re someone with digestive woes, Hardy suggests staying away from high-intensity exercise, because even though it can be a great workout, it can worsen symptoms. Instead, “focus on gentle movement for 30-60 minutes a day like walking or yoga,” she says.

The importance of gut health is the foundation of our well-being, influencing not only our digestive system but our immune system, mental health and risks for diseases. Hardy encourages Canadians to embrace the saying, “you are what you eat” and implement these simple tips to invest in a healthier and happier future.

By Sarah Laing

We’ve all heard the classic advice: Don’t eat cheese before bed (unless you’re into strangely vivid dreams). Do drink a glass of warm milk (cow’s milk only—no dairy alternatives here). But can food really impact your sleep this much? It turns out that those old wives may have been onto something.

In fact, according to Alanna McGinn, a certified sleep coach and founder of Good Night Sleep Site, what you’re eating—and when—is one of the first things she’ll bring up if you come to her for a consultation. “Our bodies can really only do one thing at a time,” she explains. “If we eat right before we go to bed, our body is going to be too busy digesting that meal to get that good quality sleep.” It’s the same reason you aim for a nottoo-hot-or-too-cold bedroom, so your body doesn’t spend the night on thermoregulation. Ditto drinking alcohol right before bed, adds McGinn. “Yes, it might help you fall asleep, but your body [will be working to process] the alcohol, so you’re not going to get proper sleep.” Cue the dreaded 2 a.m. wake-up laden with existential angst.

To avoid this, she recommends eating your last meal four hours before bedtime, and combining that with other sensible sleep-enhancing behaviour: reducing stress, tackling any underlying medical issues that could be hampering those zzzs, and practicing good sleep “hygiene,” like moving your body throughout the day, creating a restful (device-free) bedtime routine and going to bed at a consistent time each night.

“Everything goes hand-in-hand, because when we’re not sleeping well, our bodies tend to crave more sugar and carbs, and we’re not able to metabolize food as well,” McGinn says. She’s referring to the way our body looks for quick sources of energy during the day to compensate for a lack of sleep, which leads to spiking blood sugar and a pattern of hit-crash-hit-crash all day long. “When we’re not eating well, that then can affect how we sleep,” McGinn says. This can easily become a vicious cycle: You’re mainlining candy for energy because you’re tired, and you’re tired because that candy is linked to insomnia, just like caffeine. “Of course we don’t drink coffee right before bed, but people don’t understand that even having a cup of coffee after noon can affect your sleep.” Caffeine is in pop, chocolate and black tea, too.

The good news? Food doesn’t solely hamper your sleep—it can also be used to enhance it. Just ask Abbey Sharp, a registered dietitian and self-professed insomniac. “There are some foods that can have mild sedative properties,” says Sharp. “Generally speaking, though, it comes down to eating patterns more than specific foods having sleepy-time properties.”

For Sharp, that ideal pattern is eating two food groups in a strategic way. “Having [certain] carbohydrates a few hours before bedtime can be an effective way to help you doze off,” she says, pointing to several studies that indicate rice, in particular, could be good for this. One Japanese study compared folks who ate noodles, bread and rice before bed, and researchers found that rice was associated with better sleep, bread made no difference and noodles actually led to poorer quality sleep. The theory is that this is because of white rice’s high glycemic index, which pings your body to produce sleepiness-inducing serotonin. All white rice can help you snooze, but one study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that high-GI jasmine performed best in this regard.

“A little bit of carbs at dinner is advantageous, because it stimulates serotonin and dopamine, and gets us into that mood for relaxation,” Sharps explains. (Serotonin is also the brain chemical that helps you stay asleep for longer.) The key, however, is pairing them with protein, which helps slow down the absorption of the carbohydrates and keeps us feeling fuller for longer.

“If you are having white rice, then tofu or chicken is going to slow down that blood sugar response so you don’t get any of those dips during the night,” says Sharp. (Low blood sugar at night, aka hypoglycemia, can cause sleep disruptions like profuse sweating, nightmares, restlessness and feeling grumpy when you wake up.) “And it’s going to keep you full during the night, which is important for sleep, since waking up because you’re hungry is the worst.” For this reason, Sharp says a strategic bedtime snack can be helpful for some people.

“I like to focus on grains, like wholegrain bread or oatmeal, to reduce the risk of insomnia,” she says. “And then adding lots of those high-fibre fruits like pears and berries.” Research links a highfibre diet with more time in “slow wave” sleep, which is the deep sleep stage that’s essential for everything from memory to your immune system and just waking up feeling refreshed.

Sharp also recommends incorporating kiwis and cherry juice, both of which have some research suggesting they can help improve sleep quality. Kiwis contain that all-important serotonin, and a small study in 2011 showed that eating two before bed improved total sleep time by 13 percent.

Sour or tart cherries, particularly when in concentrated juice form, contain melatonin, a key hormone when it comes to regulating your sleep cycle. In fact, one (very small) study gave eight insomniac adults 8 ounces of tart cherry juice twice a day for two weeks. During this time, they reported better sleep quality—an average of 84 minutes of extra sleep per person, per night.

Sharp’s also a fan of incorporating dairy before bed, contrary to the old wives’ tale about cheese. In addition to protein, dairy contains calcium and magnesium, both important for good sleep. You could opt for cottage cheese, Sharp’s personal favourite. “It’s rich in something called casein protein,” she says. “Unlike straight-up whey protein, casein breaks down much slower so it keeps you fuller all through the night.”

More than anything, Sharp is big on the placebo effect when it comes to food helping you sleep. “All of these tips, in my experience, are more ritualistic than anything,” she says. “Any ritual that feels good to you, whether it’s taking a bath or having a specific snack, is going to serve as a cue to help you get into that sleepy stage a little faster.” The most important thing is to do what works for you to reap the benefits of restorative sleep.

From our partner:

Should I try a nightcap?

Perhaps when you were a kid and had trouble falling asleep, your parents would give you a glass of warm milk for a nightcap. That’s because cow’s milk contains tryptophan, which helps boost the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone that signals to your body it’s time for bed. Now, let us introduce you to the adult version of a nightcap: A glass of fizzy, fruity water with magnesium, also known as Natural Calm.

Natural Calm is a sleeppromoting supplement that comes in the form of flavoured powder to be mixed into a cup of hot water before bed. Its beloved by Canadians (including competitive swimmer Penny Oleksiak) for being able to quiet a racing mind, relax muscles and boost feelings of sleepiness thanks to its star ingredient, magnesium citrate. It’s formulated with other sleep-inducing ingredients, too: Magnesium glycinate promotes relaxation, GABA helps calm the nervous system and lulls anxiety, and melatonin helps you fall asleep fast and stay asleep.

Incorporating Natural Calm into your wind-down routine is easy. About 30 minutes before bed, after you close your laptop and put your phone on charge, scoop a spoonful of Natural Calm into a cup of boiling water. Stir it together, and it’ll fizz right up. Once it settles, it’s ready to drink. It won’t taste chalky, it won’t be lumpy, and it won’t boast a fake-tasting sweetness. Natural Calm tastes like soothing fruity tea, without any added artificial ingredients or sugar. Continue with your skin care routine and other pre-bed rituals, and you’ll feel your body calming itself down, ready to doze off as soon as your head hits the silk pillowcase.

For more information, visit naturalcalm.ca.

If it feels like you’re hearing more and more about wildfires, here’s why: According to the Government of Canada, the number of wildfires across the country this year, like previous years, is well above average. And, we’re only at the beginning of fire season right now, so we’re likely in for many more.

Shelbourne County, a community in southwestern Nova Scotia, just declared a local state of emergency after seeing wildfires burn out of control and grow to 6,270 hectares. Over in Alberta, firefighters are battling 59 wildfires—and have already battled over 500 wildfires this year. And northern B.C. is seeing an intense and early onset of wildfires, which poses an extreme fire risk and is likely to intensify.

With the increasing number of wildfires comes an increase in wildfire smoke, causing growing concern about air quality.

Wildfire smoke consists of toxic air pollutants produced in the form of fine particles. These particles can seep into our lungs and bloodstream and can lead to serious health issues. Even people who aren’t close to a wildfire can be affected by wildfire smoke. For instance, fires in Northern Ontario in 2021 caused air quality warnings in Southern Ontario cities, including Toronto and Hamilton.

“You do not need to be able to see or smell smoke to have potential health effects from it,” says Dr. Sarah Henderson, associate professor at University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health. “Those fine particles make a lot of impact to air quality before you can actually see them in the air.” Wildfire smoke spreads far, which means people thousands of kilometres away from a fire can be impacted, says Henderson.

We caught up with Henderson to find out how we should protect ourselves.

Pollution is all around us—is wildfire smoke that much worse? How can it affect our health?

“This form of air pollution is different from the kind of pollution that comes from cars or industries,” says Henderson. “It has fine particulate matter, and the problem with that is when you breathe, the particles can be inhaled very deep into your lungs.” This can trigger your body to have an immunological response, she explains. “They’re a foreign invader—the way a bacterium or virus would be—and your body tries to get rid of them in the same way.” Since our immune system isn’t able to neutralize its response to wildfire smoke like it may be able to do with a virus, it can put the body into a state of inflammation.

(Related: The Worst Canadian Cities for Air Pollution)

Are there people who are more vulnerable to wildfire smoke?

Wildfire smoke is particularly concerning for people who have pre-existing respiratory conditions, especially asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). But anyone whose health is compromised by a chronic condition (including heart disease, lung disease and diabetes) will be at a higher risk of experiencing health effects. “We’re also concerned about people who are pregnant, infants, and small children whose lungs are still developing,” says Henderson. “ Also, older adults, since lung capacity decreases with age, and anybody who has an acute respiratory infection, like COVID or influenza.”

What are some of the most common symptoms associated with wildfire smoke?

“For most people, the effects will be transient,” says Henderson. And if you don’t have a condition such as asthma or COPD, you may not feel any symptoms.

For some people, wildfire smoke can cause eye irritation, a runny nose (also known as rhinorrhea), sore throat, a mild cough, headaches and an increase in phlegm, according to the B.C. Centre of Disease Control.

People who have a respiratory condition may find their airways closing up, causing them to have difficulty breathing, says Henderson. Furthermore, “people who have heart disease might feel heart palpitations, and people who have diabetes may have difficulty getting their insulin balance.”

Should I check the air quality index before leaving the house?

Henderson encourages people to use the AQHI (The Air Quality Health Index) smartphone app, which tells users whether or not wildfire smoke is around them. “AQHI is an index that goes from one to 10, and for every value of the index, there’s advice,” says Henderson.  “When air quality gets quite poor, we would recommend people limit their time outdoors and limit their exertion outdoors—the more you breathe, the more smoke you inhale.” This means you’ll want to avoid high-intensity outdoor workouts, in particular.

Are masks effective against wildfire smoke?

“If people feel they need masks for respiratory protection, the best one they can wear is a particle respirator, which is an N95 or KN95,” says Henderson. “Those work really well for removing small particles out of the inhaled air, as long as the air goes through the material of the mask and not around—the mask has to be well-fitted to the face.” Henderson warns particle respirators can make it harder to breathe, and they can be uncomfortable, so you’ll want to avoid having to wear one for a long period of time.

How else can we protect ourselves?

Whether we’re working from home or lounging on the couch, most of us spend ample time indoors, so it’s important to keep our indoor environments as smoke-free as possible. “That means closing doors and windows if it’s safe to do so without getting too hot and, if you have the resources to do so, having a portable air cleaner,” says Henderson. “If there’s one thing you can do to protect your health, it’s getting a portable air cleaner and using it.”

Henderson prefers the term “air cleaner” over “air purifier.” (“What does ‘pure air’ even mean?” she asks.) Henderson offers tips for selecting the right product for your home: “Look for one that uses a heat pump filtration—not ozonation, which puts more ozone into the air and doesn’t do anything to remove the particles from the air,” says Henderson. She recommends getting an air cleaner with HIPAA filtration and being careful to select one that is the correct size for the room(s) you want to use it in.

(Related: Do UV Air Purifiers Really Work?)

How long does wildfire smoke last in the air?

“It really depends on the fires and the weather,” says Henderson. When fires continue to burn, smoke can last for weeks or months. “If a really smoky fire was suddenly extinguished, the smoke would likely be fully dispersed by light winds within 24 to 48 hours—faster if the wind was strong or if it was raining.”

Any tips for staying healthy during wildfire season?

“My biggest tip is to listen to your body,” says Henderson. Some people are more sensitive to smoke than others, she says, so it’s important to listen to the signals.

“If you have a headache, if your breathing feels funny, respect what your body’s telling you and take it easy,” says Henderson. “Take measures to protect yourself and drink lots of water to help reduce that inflammation.”

While wildfire smoke is a serious potential health risk, Henderson also cautions that there’s no reason to panic. “If you take some simple measures to protect yourself, you should be OK for the most part.”

Are there any long-term side effects of smoke inhalation?

Henderson says researchers are still trying to answer that question. “The thing I always tell people is if you protect yourself from inhaling smoke in the short term, you’re going to protect yourself from any potential long-term health effects that we might discover five or 10 years from now,” she says. “The key message is: Try to reduce your exposure.”

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You know it’s officially summer when juicy, sweet, refreshing fruit hits the farm stands. Along country roads in the Southern states, you’ll find numerous fruit and vegetable stands. In the old days, there would be metal cattle-watering troughs filled with cold water, ice and freshly picked watermelons. We would stop daily to grab a melon, sometimes barely making it to the back of the station wagon before slicing one open and devouring it right then and there. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I came to learn about gazpachos, so this recipe combines my childhood memories with my adult need to elevate those taste memories. But, really, does it get any better than a farm-stand snack?

Watermelon Gazpacho

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 3 cups peeled, seeded and diced watermelon
• 1 cup seeded and diced tomatoes
• 1 cup seeded and diced cucumber
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
• ½ cup fresh mint leaves
• ½ cup fresh basil leaves, plus 6–8 chopped leaves, for garnish
• 2 tsp salt, plus extra to taste
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ cup orange juice
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Directions

In a large bowl and using an immersion blender, or in the bowl of a traditional blender or food processor, place the watermelon, tomato, cucumber, garlic, jalapeños, mint and ½ cup basil. Sprinkle with the salt.

Blitz until smooth. (You may have to do this in batches if you are using a food processor or if your traditional blender is small.) Once the mixture is smooth, add the juices and blend on medium speed. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend to combine (you could do this with a whisk). Add the salt to taste.

Chill the soup in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or for up to 24 hours. Garnish with the remaining basil.

Excerpted from Together at Sobo by Lisa Ahier, with Susan Musgrave. Copyright © 2023 Lisa Elaine Ahier. Photographs by Jeremy Koreski. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

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I got into medicine because of something my family experienced when I was younger: My brother was born with a congenital heart defect and unfortunately passed at three months old while undergoing an operation. I was only seven, and had a limited understanding of what was happening at the time, but all I could see—what I remember and emotionally still feel—is how my parents were treated so poorly. Both of them were highly educated; they held PhDs and spoke English fluently, but they were still discriminated against. There were even comments made about my brother’s appearance, that he “looked like a little monkey,” and other kinds of discriminatory remarks.

Having moved from Sri Lanka to the US and then to Edmonton, my parents had experienced many forms of racism. But when they needed support at the most vulnerable time in their lives, they were faced with significant discrimination, which added to the stress of the situation, and the experience really impacted me. I didn’t want them to ever feel like that again, and I don’t want anybody else to feel like that. This is quite central to the work that I do, in wanting to provide care that is safe, especially for newcomers, immigrants and refugees.

Early in my career, I worked in community health centers in Parkdale and the Queen West area of Toronto. Then I moved over to St. Michael’s Hospital, where I practice family medicine. I see all types of people, from babies to the elderly. I also do outreach work connecting with individuals who struggle to access care.

I focus a lot on women’s health and reproductive health. I see that when people don’t know about a part of their body, or it’s a part that they don’t usually address, then they suffer without ever seeking medical attention. That’s why we see so many delays in diagnosis for endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome and other conditions. It’s multi-layered: maybe it’s cultural, maybe it’s generational, maybe they have a history of trauma. There’s so many different reasons why people may not want to talk about their periods, their vulva, their vagina.

I used to work at a mobile clinic where we would do STI screening, pap smears and birth control consults. Some communities we visited wearing a “cancer-screening” hat, and not a “sexual health” label. We changed how we described ourselves to make it more comfortable and culturally acceptable to be seen by a doctor. In an ideal world, I’d be able to come and just say, “It’s important to check your sexual health and it’s important for us to discuss it.” But we have to work with people where they’re at. We have to be sensitive about how ready they are to talk with us, based on their own history.

For example, one lady came on the bus and said, “I just have something hanging out and I don’t know what it is.” And it was, literally, her uterus hanging out of her body. That’s an extreme situation, but variations of that happen all the time. People walk around suffering because they don’t know how to get help. And because this is an area of the body that is associated with so much shame, it can be even harder.

I’ve learned that having these conversations around sex and reproduction and reducing stigma around difficult-to-discuss topics is really important. And we can do that on a larger scale—in the media—and by reaching directly out to communities, with permission, of course, to have those conversations. We need to increase accessibility and prioritize access for everybody. Addressing those barriers and acknowledging discrimination are key to rebuilding trust.

I have a patient who grew up in Canada; she’s 72. I remember asking her a decade earlier, when I was doing her pap, if she had any questions about her sexual health. She looked at me and said, “No. I just assumed that sex stopped after menopause.” More recently I was talking to her because she had a skin condition on her vulva—she’s experiencing a symptom that affects her ability to leave the house. And she said to me, “I don’t know how to apply the cream.” I explained that she should apply it the same way as she would to any other part of her body, but she said, “I just don’t touch that area.”

I told her that I understood how difficult this could be. “Maybe you didn’t learn about your body, especially intimate parts like your genitals and the vulva?” And she said “No, we never talked about that. And I still don’t talk about it.”

But this is why it’s so important to know your body: so you can get the help you need.

I am seeing encouraging shifts happening, as young people talk more about sexual health and their bodies, but there are a number of people who are left out of these conversations, based on cultural nuances. I attended an event in the Eritrean Ethiopian community organized by the younger generation; there was a lot of female genital mutilation that was happening, and that had happened, so we were seeing people with different grades of mutilation. It was really interesting to have those conversations with the younger girls who had experienced it and then with the older generation, as well; they had very different approaches to their bodies. The younger generations were like, “We want to enjoy sex,” and the older generations were like, “That’s not what sex is for.”

As providers, we have to be aware of our own biases and our own comforts and discomforts. My area of interest is sexual health, but I know that that’s not necessarily the case for everybody. And providers are human; doctors are human. We also carry our own cultural beliefs and our value systems and our own traumas, which influence how we care.

For example, despite sexual health being something I love to talk about, I still have never actually had a conversation about sex with my parents. I’ll tell them when I’m appearing on TV [as a medical expert] because they like to watch. I’ll tell them about all the segments that have to do with anything else—menopause, fertility, mental health—but if it has to do with sex, I don’t give them a heads-up. That’s my own discomfort.

My role as a family doctor is to try to navigate all of this in a gentle way so that all my patients do feel comfortable. I find that when you start asking questions, people may not want to talk about sex and their bodies, but it does plant a bit of a seed. It’s about making a space where a patient can ask questions and leaving the door open to have that conversation later.

I think it’s also about recognizing that all humans are messy. We’re all a collection of the stories and the wounds, and the beautiful things and the difficult things, that have made us and brought us to this moment—and understanding that helps me to be a better provider. If we lead with this openness, this kindness and curiosity to try to support each other, that grounds me in the work that I do, and it helps me want to continue doing this work.

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It’s easy to assume your relationship is on the rocks if your partner isn’t interested in fooling around — but that’s not always the case. Anyone can experience a drop in desire, and the reasons often have little to do with their sexual attraction towards you, says Sonya Barnett, a Toronto-based sexual health educator.  

Here are some possible reasons why your partner isn’t interested in sex.

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Stress

Work, family issues and financial troubles can all cause stress. When we’re overwhelmed, cortisol—the main stress hormone—can affect our libido. This is true for all genders, but in men, chronic stress can affect testosterone production and cause erectile dysfunction. 

“It’s really difficult to take the time to worry about our own sexuality when we’re worrying about other things,” Barnett says. 

Mental health issues

Like stress, underlying mental health issues like anxiety and depression can affect sex drive. A marker of clinical depression is a loss of interest or pleasure in doing things you once enjoyed—sex included. Antidepressants can also lower libido, and make it harder to become aroused and achieve orgasm. 

Anxiety affects the body and mind in many ways. When someone is dealing with an anxiety disorder, they may be unable to get in the mood or experience performance anxiety. Anxious thoughts take us out of the present moment and cause our bodies to physically tense up, which can prevent us from relaxing and enjoying sex.

Stage of your relationship

Relationships go through phases. Often earlier on in a romantic partnership, physical intimacy is new and exciting. But it’s normal for that passion to ebb and flow years throughout the years, Barnett says. If one partner is struggling with stress, their interest in sex may dwindle. If kids enter the picture and you’re exhausted from caring for a newborn, you need for emotional support may trump the desire for sex.

“We’re always told that if you’re not having sex, your relationship is on the outs,” Barnett explains. “That’s not really true. Sex is one aspect of a relationship, and sometimes relationships don’t need that. If we have companionship that may be good enough.”

If a new person you’re dating turns down an invitation to “come upstairs,” the relationship could be moving too quickly for them. Slow things down. This could be a sign that they want to get to know you better before getting physical.

Exhaustion 

Being too tired for sex is often not an excuse; exhaustion really can put a damper on libido. Lifestyle factors like work, family and stress all affect energy levels. If a partner turns down sex after a long day, try not to take it personally. 

“It could be they are too tired… especially if you have younger kids,” Barnett says. “Sometimes you just don’t have the emotional headspace to be dealing with somebody else at the end of your day.”

Lower sex drive

Not everyone has a high sex drive, and it’s perfectly okay to not crave physical intimacy as much as another person does. There is a societal expectation that people — especially men — should always be interested in sex, otherwise something is “wrong” with them, Barnett says. This is untrue, and can make people feel badly when their sex drive does not match another person’s. 

People’s sex drives also change with age. Perimenopause, the years-long transition into menopause causes estrogen levels to drop, which can make someone less interested in sex. Testosterone levels also begin to decrease in men as they get older, also decreasing libido.

“At some point, you may be wanting sex less than your partner or more than your partner,” Barnett says. “That’s a natural ebb and flow.” 

Communication is important

The key to dealing with differing or changing sex drives within a relationship is communication. Barnett says people need to be open with their partner (or partners) about their feelings and needs. A couples’ therapist can help facilitate these conversations, she says, and teach effective communication tools.  

“That communication needs to be put out,” Barnett says. “Communication like, ‘Yes, my day has been incredibly stressful and no, it is not about you.’ It can be difficult for people to have that conversation when it comes to sex.”

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For the most part, Edmonton-based Hina Laeeque has lived a fairly conventional life. She went to university, built a successful career in health care, got married and had kids. But in 2016, at the age of 36, Laeeque felt unhappy and irritable, and it was affecting her marriage. She had never really been into fitness growing up, but she thought exercise could help. Going to the gym after work was a struggle, so she started a home-based DVD workout program instead. After three weeks, she was hooked: Both her mood and her home life improved.

“I have never felt better. I got in the best shape of my life,” she says. “I remember thinking every woman needs to feel like this.” Laeeque decided she wanted other women like her to experience the same benefits, and became a certified CanFitPro personal trainer.

There was no roadmap for someone who looked like her. There are few South Asian women in the fitness industry, and even fewer catering to the unique body types, cultural barriers and health challenges faced by South Asian women. This is what motivated Laeeque to launch her (mostly virtual) coaching business, called Empowered Fitness, specifically to help busy South Asian women meet their exercise and nutrition goals, as well as change their mindset around physical activity. We asked her to tell us all about her experiences in the fitness industry.

How are South Asian women excluded from fitness?

It starts really early. One day, when I was in Grade 5, I stumbled upon a morning aerobics program on TV, and I started doing it before school with my little sister. I remember feeling good and being super excited about it, so I went to school and told a friend about it. She said, “Why would you bother? You’re brown—you’ll never have abs.” I really believed her, and thought, ‘I guess brown people can’t get fit.’ As South Asians, my parents really encouraged education, so that’s what I focused on instead.

How active were you growing up?

I was never athletic by any means — I was a bookish child. I specifically remember being the last person chosen for a team. But I grew up in a small town in northern Alberta, where there really wasn’t much to do but go outside and play, so that’s what we did, and we rode our bikes. And I’ve always been interested in athletes. I would watch them at the Olympics and think, Wow, they’re so incredible. So then I studied human biology at university because of my interest in fit people and how the human body functions. In the back of my mind, I think I always wanted to be like those athletes, but I felt that it wasn’t meant to be because of my background.

What made you pivot from your old career to being more fitness-focused?

Discovering a home-based workout program I loved really ignited a passion in me to show other women how they can still be a working mom or a stay-at-home mom, a wife, a friend—or whatever they choose to be—and also focus on filling up their cup. And I saw that this is a need in the community that I really want to help with. I got to the point where I realized this work was filling my cup more than my day job, so I quit to focus on my business full-time.

(Related: Yoga Is a Tool for Healing—One that Shayla Stonechild Shares with Her Community)

Who are your typical clients?

Most of my clients are South Asian women between the ages of 30 to 60. Most of them come to me because they want to lose weight, maybe 20 pounds. These are mostly working women who are just kind of stuck—they have poured their life into either their careers or their children, and they know that it’s time to invest in themselves. When they see someone who looks like them who’s working out—a working mom who’s also doing the nine-to-five grind—they connect with that right away.

So representation really matters.

Yes, we don’t often see fit South Asian women on TV, movies or social media. It is slowly changing, but particularly when I was growing up, it wasn’t that way at all. When you see someone that looks like you doing things and achieving things that are out of the norm, you realize that it’s in the realm of possibility for you as well. We also need to encourage young girls to get into health and fitness just like we now encourage more girls to study science or engineering.

What body types, beauty norms, or social pressures are South Asian women contending with or fighting against?

I think many women have stories about comments they’ve received from older-generation individuals, or aunties, in their community who have made comments on their body or their body type. And that, along with what they see on TV, has led to body image issues among many women—even smart, intelligent ones who are now in their 30s and 40s. And being strong and more muscular is also seen as too manly.

Women can be afraid they’ll bulk up like a bodybuilder.

Yes, that’s a misconception. Lifting weights is essential to our long-term health; it’s actually one of the best anti-aging remedies out there. We lose muscle mass each year after about the age of 35, and definitely more after the age of 40. We want to make sure that we’re preventing that and lifting weights well before. It helps with so many things, whether it’s depression and anxiety, or building stronger bones, flexibility and preventing falls.

We really do need to change the narrative around what looks healthy and how to get healthy. So there is a lot of mindset work I do around what it means to be healthy, being fit and active in our community, and how to encourage healthy eating.

On the nutrition side of things, it really is a lot of coaching around what healthy eating looks like—eating whole foods that are nutrient-dense and reducing things that are fried or cooked heavily in oil. We can still eat our roti, naan and our carbs, but we also need to make sure we’re getting our chicken, fish, or vegan options for protein.

I think there’s still that stigma that we’re just not active. We love to socialize, and it’s often around food and sweets, which is a part of our culture, and I love that. It’s great for our mental health. I just try to change the narrative a bit, saying, ‘Well, we don’t always have to eat like that. And if we meet up, we don’t always have to have a huge, elaborate meal.’ That can be a challenge.

This can be tricky territory to talk about, but do you discuss about physiological, genetic and cultural differences with your clients?

Yes. There’s research that shows South Asian body types are different from those of Caucasians or Europeans. So we actually have less low, lean muscle mass and we carry fat differently—more so around our bellies. That means that we’re actually at higher risk for both heart disease and diabetes, and more so than any other ethnic group. Studies say we’re up to six to eight times more likely to have diabetes, and up to four times more at risk of heart disease compared to the general population. On top of this, we get heart disease about a decade earlier than the rest of the population.

That’s pretty grim.

Yes, it’s really alarming and something that our community needs to be aware of. It’s a factor that we can’t control, which is our ancestry, and then to make matters worse, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, South Asians are more sedentary and we consume higher amounts of carbohydrates than non-South Asians in Canada. These are all risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.

Do you think more needs to be done to raise the alarm and create awareness about this?

Definitely—all of this highlights the need for ethnicity-specific recommendations in health and disease prevention. Right now the current recommendations for the general population are 150 minutes of exercise per week, but we have research that shows this is not sufficient for both male and female South Asians. A recent study found that South Asians actually need to exercise 20 minutes more a day than their European counterparts in order to have the same cardiovascular risk profile.

So I will always encourage my clients to get outside, get extra steps in and go for a walk. I don’t encourage high-intensity cardio like HIIT training all the time. But as a South Asian community, we need to be active—at a bare minimum—because of our high-risk profile. My clients typically spend an average of 40 minutes working out at a time, with two or three rest days. This is what’s doable—and sustainable—for busy, active people with families.

Next: I Need You to Know: Fitness Is Not One Size Fits All

The evening Rivs was wheeled into the ER, I felt a hollowness—a separation far more isolating than physical distance. For the first time in our twelve years of marriage, the space between us felt uncompromising.

Weren’t you just right here?

Rivs and I were twenty-two when we met. Our life together was built on the painstaking labor of young love, evolving expectations, and a cycle of collaborative new beginnings. I always looked to him for strength, especially in times of hardship. I believed that I needed him, that my own power came through him and our union because of what I had been taught, that it was only through god and with a man that I would be complete. That by myself I would never become what I was created to be.

Perfect and whole.

Who was I without him? What was home if not us?

I turned from the hospital and walked back to the car, the night a haunting bleakness despite a brilliant display of stars. Strange, how pain can obscure what’s in front of us, like a lens we don’t even know we’re looking through. In its distortion, everything feels incurably dark.

Over the years, between Rivs’s long training hours, my writing ambitions, and our respective grad school endeavors, we had grown accustomed to being apart. Soon after Iris was born, Rivs was hired by a production company, which required him to go overseas several times a year, sometimes in two-week stretches. At first these jobs were sporadic opportunities, but they soon became our primary source of income—much more lucrative than sponsorships, race winnings, or work as a physical therapist. Eventually the payouts from his work trips allowed me to step away from serving tables and focus more on my writing career. I was also able to stay home with our kids in their baby and toddler years, which, it turns out, was what I wanted to do more than anything else.

When Rivs and I were apart, I started to consider the ways I relied on him in situations I could handle on my own. I regained some of the independence I had lost between young marriage and raising children. I grew comfortable being alone and Rivs encouraged my independence. He urged me to travel and write between his work trips, to reestablish the sense of self I had relinquished in early motherhood. Although we struggled to get it right and we were a far-from- perfect couple, in many ways distance allowed our marriage to maintain the autonomy and longing that is sometimes lost in more traditional partnerships.

But as I drove home from the hospital that evening, I felt the harsh difference between loneliness and being alone. Despite our worn-in physical separation, I always had the default of knowing that Rivs was just a phone call away.

Now, I felt the loneliness of his absence. He was just across town, but there were oceans between us. I had been here before and knew what it meant: there would be no assurances extended across the void, no softly mouthed words telling me to “take it easy.”

There was no more deferring to his strength.

What I hadn’t yet realized is that throughout the course of our marriage, I had been expecting him to validate my broken pieces—to fix what had been fractured by my father’s death. This unspoken expectation was an untenable demand, and one I didn’t even know I had made. It all came out as projections of deficiency on his part. Over and over I blamed him for my pain when his love couldn’t save me.

When he failed to make me whole.

Rivs’s hospitalization forced me to recognize a truth I had been avoiding: I didn’t know how to be alone.

When he called from the ICU several hours later, he spoke to me in looping metaphor—confused as to where he was and why. High-flow oxygen had lifted him out of hypoxia, but he was now on a slew of painkillers and sedatives, which further distorted his reality and demeanor.

In a meandering conversation sustained by the static of forced air, I gathered that a chest X-ray had found “innumerable” nodules in his lungs. The doctors were unsure what had caused these lesions, which made a medical plan of action difficult, if not impossible. Assuming he had COVID-19, the medical team would need to wait for a positive test result before treating him. In the meantime, they administered the same antibiotic and corticosteroid combination Rivs had given himself at home—only intravenously and in higher doses. Without a diagnosis, all they could do was nurse his symptoms and treat him for a general lung injury.

When I told our girls that their dad was in the hospital, they responded with love and apathy. Our children were accustomed to having a resilient father in extreme circumstances from which he always returned.

My heart broke with their familiar response. I knew the feeling well.

***

The first week of his hospitalization was a blur of unanswered questions. Rivs was on a cocktail of heavy narcotics and couldn’t fully understand what was happening—a disturbing occurrence for someone so attuned to his body. He spent most of the day asleep and would often doze off or lose consciousness mid-sentence whenever we talked on the phone. Other than a CT scan showing thousands of unexplained pulmonary masses and a decimated blood platelet count, no one knew what was wrong with him. Even after three negative in-hospital COVID-19 tests, the leading medical theory was that he’d been infected by an undecipherable strain of coronavirus—the same theory Rivs had believed all along.

“Undiagnosed pneumatological infection or injury. COVID-19 negative. Stable and oriented on four liters of high-flow oxygen,” the nurse read from a computer screen each time I called for a synopsis of his condition.

“But this is my husband,” I wanted to shout. “He’s not just another statistic.”

I had watched the COVID-19 body count tick upward on the news, but I was only now coming to understand the depths of its tragedy—a personalization of the individual pain that constitutes a global pandemic. For the first time, I felt a humanization of the worldwide trauma before me.

I could no longer complain about fickle quarantine rules or stressful school closures once I felt the heartbreaking reality of having a loved one suffering alone in the ICU.

Sometimes the universality of pain is recognized only after we experience it for ourselves. Knowing I’d only scratched the surface, I wondered how far I’d been alienated from the depths of human suffering, how heavily I had been blinded by my own privileged perceptions.

Perhaps this was the purpose of a broken heart, to be fractured enough to feel it all. Maybe pain was myopic only when I failed to acknowledge all the love waiting to shelter it.

***

During that first week, time crawled forward while my heart was both broken and opened at once. I had never experienced such pain, and at the same time, I had never felt so much love for the world. I had been stripped bare; my armored layers peeled back to the fragility of human existence.

And I lived there, in the thick of universal agony with a deep love for it all, until eight days after his admission. That morning, there was a gutting variation to the nurse’s daily update.

“Undiagnosed pneumatological infection or injury. COVID-19 negative. Stable and oriented on max high-flow oxygen . . . Acute right pneumothorax.”

The day before, a surgeon had performed a fine-needle lung biopsy to determine the origins of Rivs’s lesions. In my recent research on lung disease, I learned that pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung, was a potential side effect of a pulmonary biopsy. I had prepared myself for this possibility prior to the procedure, but because it was Rivs, I assumed he’d avoid any complications.

Trying to compose myself—because that’s how I thought the wife of a critically-ill partner should be, composed—I asked the nurse if I could speak to Rivs directly. Most days I waited for him to call me first, partly to avoid the risk of waking him, but mainly because I was terrified of the endless ringing that often went unanswered.

This time, I heard the harsh roar of oxygen as he fumbled to pick up the phone. His voice was a rush of fabricated breath.

“It’s bad, babe. I’ve got this tube sticking out my chest. I feel like I’m being waterboarded. I can’t take a deep breath. They put this mask on me but there’s still not enough air in my lungs. I can’t get enough oxygen. I can’t breathe. Steph. I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

Click. Silence. Loneliness.

Oxygen. Lungs. Breath.

These words held memories cloaked in a sadness so thick I could barely see straight. Even more frightening was the fact that I had never heard Rivs panic before. Ever.

With a collapsed lung and a tube in his pleural cavity to drain fluid from his chest, the severity of Rivs’s illness was finally sinking in.

That night I cried while putting six-year-old Iris to bed, the second verse of her favorite lullaby breaking the composure I was trying to maintain.

The other night dear
as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms

From the book Everything All At Once by Steph Catudal Copyright 2023 by Stephanie Catudal. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Chances are when you want to add more flavour to your food, you reach for salt. It’s a staple in every home and restaurant kitchen, and nearly every dish calls for it. However, eating too much of it has a number of negative health effects: sodium, the main component of salt, can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. 

If you’re watching your sodium intake, you’ve probably looked to alternatives to make food tastier. MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is one option that’s long been a staple in Asian cooking and is now growing in popularity in North America as a flavour additive. “MSG has a third less of the sodium than table salt, so when you use it in your cooking, it helps you cut down on sodium,” says Michelle Jaelin, a Hamilton, Ont.-based registered dietitian. What is it exactly? MSG’s an amino acid that’s found naturally in a number of foods like Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, seaweed, anchovies and protein sources like tuna fish, chicken and beef, according to Jaelin.

How does MSG taste? Chiefly, umami—a flavour that’s hard to describe. “On your tongue, you have different taste receptors: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami,” says Jaelin. “Umami is that savoury taste that you can’t quite explain. It’s a little bit salty, but it’s more than that. It adds a depth of flavour. You can taste the umami on things like tomatoes and mushrooms.”

If you want to use MSG as a seasoning, you have to buy it as a powder (typically made by fermenting ingredients like starch and sugars) and then use it as you would salt. But is using MSG in place of salt a healthy choice? Here’s what you need to know.

What are the health benefits of MSG?

MSG is undeniably delicious. Jaelin says it’s a good alternative to salt and can make healthy foods taste better.

Many of her clients struggle to add more veggies to their diet because they don’t like how veggies taste—in particular, they say they’re bitter. MSG can help with that. “If you add a little bit of MSG [when stir-frying or sautéeing veggies], it’ll add another dimension of flavour to the vegetables,” she says. “That’s a really great health benefit—it gets people to eat more vegetables.”

Is MSG bad for you?

For decades, MSG has been demonized as a toxic addition to food. In the late ‘60s, a doctor wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine speculating that a number of symptoms he was experiencing, from limb numbness to heart palpitations, were from the MSG in the Chinese takeout he consumed. The term “Chinese restaurant syndrome” became popularized, as did the association of illness with Chinese food, which gave both MSG and Chinese restaurants a bad reputation. 

The stigma against MSG and Chinese food led to xenophobic and racist attitudes towards Chinese cuisine and people. “Negatively associating MSG with only Asian food, in particular Chinese food, showed the racist biases towards it,” Jaelin says. “MSG is found in a number of foods. People don’t say, ‘after eating Parmesan cheese, I felt sick from the MSG.’ They only say that after eating Chinese food.”

In recent years, the correlation between MSG and symptoms like migraines and heart palpitations has been debunked. Research has found that MSG sensitivity only occurs for a small percentage of people, and the effects disappear in less than an hour—meaning,  MSG is perfectly safe to consume for most people.

So, should I replace salt with MSG?

It’s up to you! Using MSG in your cooking might be a good way to decrease the amount of sodium you’re eating. Lowering your sodium intake is important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, especially if you’re someone with high blood pressure or heart disease. Plus, it’s a good way to up the umami factor in your food and to make your favourite dishes even more flavourful. 

Next: The Healthiest Cooking Oils to Use, According to Data

1. Get lost in the weeds

There’s definitely a physical aspect to gardening—all of the squatting, lifting and carrying involved in yardwork torches lots of calories. But that’s not why gardening expert Tara Nolan loves it. “It’s very meditative,” explains Nolan, author of Gardening Your Front Yard: Projects and Ideas for Big and Small Spaces. “Weeding typically sounds like such a bane-of-your ­existence type of activity, but there’s something really soothing about putting on your gardening gloves, pulling away and getting lost in your thoughts.” Studies show that getting out in the garden has a myriad of health benefits, from increasing quality of life to reducing anxiety.

2. Jot on the spot

Writing down your feelings in a journal reduces activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for controlling the intensity of your emotions.

3. Be a pop star

Indulge in the nostalgia factor of a Popsicle. There’s nothing like this sweet treat to bring back some of your best memories and cool you down on a warm summer day. To up the wellness factor, make it homemade. Try blending berries, yogurt and almond milk—basically anything you’d put in a smoothie—for a hit of antioxidants, suggests Dr. Jessica Cardona, a naturopathic doctor at Kleinburg Integrative Health.

4. Dig in the dirt

Growing your own food can not only save money but is also mentally and physically satisfying, says Nolan. “There’s a really great feeling that comes from doing it yourself and connecting to the earth.” Plus, you can enjoy lots of delicious dishes made with seasonal veggies, like salads with freshly picked lettuce, tomatoes, onions and herbs. Whatever Nolan doesn’t grow, she picks up at a local farmers’ market.

5. Go om

Meditation studios, salt caves and hot yoga classes are wonderful, but they can also be a big splurge. Trial a mindfulness app (like Insight Timer, which offers tons of freebie sessions) so that you can take 10 minutes to reset every day. Even a single mindfulness meditation session can reduce stress in the body and have positive effects on your mental well­being and health conditions like blood pressure, say researchers.

6. Run a bath

Turn your nighttime cleansing ritual into a mini spa experience. Fill your tub with essential oils or muscle-soothing, magnesium-rich Epsom salts. Spend some time winding down by reading a book, meditating or playing a podcast while you soak. Research has found that tak­ing a warm bath one to two hours before bed can significantly improve your quality of sleep and help you fall asleep faster.

7. Dive into a beach read

There’s no better escape than getting lost in a juicy book. Head to your local public library, if it’s open, or download a book if they offer that. Studies suggest that people who read books have longer lives than non-readers. Keeping your brain active also helps you fend off cognitive decline as you age. Join a book club — it’s great motivation to keep up this healthy habit and meet new people. (Here are the books to read to call yourself a book lover.)

8. Catch a sunrise (or sunset)

There’s nothing like watching the world tum to give you perspective and calm. Grab a coffee (or a cock­tail if it’s evening) and bask in the special moment. Watching a sun­set can also help reset your body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm, says Dr. Cardona.

9. Stretch

Muscles need to be flexible to stay healthy. Stretch every day to keep your mobility and main­tain your range of motion. Without stretching, mus­cles get short and tight, and begin to limit what you can do in a day. (Check out these stretches that’ll improve your flexibility.)

10. Hit the trails

Going for a walk or taking some deep breaths of fresh air at your local park or hiking trail stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, says Dr. Cardona. Spending time in the great outdoors helps reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and stress, according to a number of studies. These long-term effects on well-being are more reason than ever to leave your office at 1 unch and find some green space.

11. Create a water bar

Staying hydrated is key to good health, but some­times it can seem a bit, well, boring. Thankfully, there is no shortage of ideas to keep your relationship with water fresh. Store a pitcher in the fridge at all times and jazz it up with slices of cucumber, watermelon, orange, lemon or lime. You might even want to add a few drops of a food­grade essential oil, too. Better yet, cut up fresh fruits and herbs and let the fam be their own H20 mixologists by picking and choosing their own add-ins. (Here are a few more flavoured water recipes.)

12. Indulge in a massage

While facial rollers might not have all the science to back up their skincare benefits just yet, there is clearly something to these popular tools. Smooth on your favourite serum and try a nighttime rolling ritual with a rose quartz or jade facial roller, moving upwards from your neck. Touted as helpful for lymphatic drainage and circulation, facial massage is a great excuse to give your skin a little TLC. You can also try a gua sha crystal for the same if not better results.

13. Dance solo

There’s nothing quite like working up a sweat while listening to some tunes. Blast your go-to Spotify play­list solo or invite some friends over for a dance party (dancing is also a great workout for anyone who hates exercising). Music is known to have many therapeutic benefits: Research shows that listening to your favourite songs can help your functional brain connectivity and has powerful beneficial effects on your overall health.

14. Grow your awareness

It seems like there’s some new environmental issue to worry about on the daily. One way to keep on top of the news—and sort fact from fiction—is to bookmark this website: environmentaldefence.ca. This Canadian advocacy organization works with government, industry and regular folks to help create healthy communities, clean water and a safe climate. Get involved or just read up on what’s going on—they’re both healthy ideas!

15. Wash your face

Yeah, it’s one more thing to add to your list, but washing up before bed keeps your skin healthy. If you let the day’s accumula­tion of pollution, grease and oil bake in overnight, you’re denying your skin a clean slate on which to work its restoring and renewing magic.

16. Get your greens

Delicious and nutritious cold-pressed juices can blow your weekly grocery budget. But that doesn’t mean you need to miss out on these antioxidant-packed refreshments. Use your blender to make your own green juices by simply mixing your veggies (try kale, cucumber and celery) with some crushed ice and an apple, suggests Dr. Cardona. Plus, there’s plenty more fibre that your juicy coun­terparts are missing.

17. Pump up the jams

It’s a win-win! Music, especially live music, can decrease stress and increase happiness. It can also improve your workout performance.

18. Get some vitamin Sea

Spending time in and around water can be a boon to our health, providing an affordable antidote to stress, says Wallace J. Nichols, author of Blue Mind. “Chronic stress and anxiety can cause or intensify a range of physical and mental afflictions, including depression, ulcers, colitis and heart disease,” he writes. “Being on, in and near water can be one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce stress and anxiety.”

19. Shop sustainably

Do something for the good of your community, like finally making the switch to reusable bags for your groceries. When we do good, we feel good —period. Here are some sustainable wellness products health editors love.

20. Get lost in a puzzle

Piecing together jigsaw puzzles contributes to brain health in a variety of ways: They help you disconnect from the world and fire up your neurons, challenging your brain in new ways. Plus, they’re satisfying — well, most of the time (looking at you, missing corner piece!).

21. Pet a pet

Research has found that petting a dog for just 15 minutes releases happiness hormones (such as serotonin, prolactin and oxytocin) and lowers stress hormones (such as cortisol). Don’t own a pet? Borrow one for the day or visit a local shelter.

22. Become a birder

Watching our feathered friends is good for our mental health. A UK study of 270 people found that casually watching neigh­bourhood birds results in reduced depression, stress and anxiety.

23. Pickle up!

Not only are pickles a great summertime condiment but their juice can also cure muscle cramps. A study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that they relieve cramps in around 1 1/2 minutes — 45 percent faster than if people don’t take anything. While scientists aren’t sure why this happens, they theorize that pickle juice causes a muscular reflex when it hits the back of your throat, turning off misfiring neurons throughout the body and cramps. The vinegar may be responsible forth is phenomenon.

24. Eat the rainbow

If there isn’t a lot of colour on your plate, you’re not getting the biggest bang for your food buck. The brighter the fruit or vegetable, the better — colour indicates that the food is rich in phytochemicals, which keep your body healthy. Different colours provide different benefits, so aim for diversity.

25. Bring the outside in

Plants clean the air for a lot less money than fancy plug-in purifiers. Every plant serves a purpose, but we like bamboo palms, which remove formaldehyde and benzene impuri­ties while keeping the air moist. Here are the best houseplants for your home.

26. Buy the next round

A study from Harvard Business School found that those who spend their money altruisti­cally have the greatest happiness overall. By the way, having a glass of red wine a day boosts heart health. Cheers!

27. Eat an apple

While an apple a day probably won’t keep you from catching the common cold, a number of studies suggest that it could provide even greater health benefits. Researchers from the University of Oxford estimate that if every adult over 50 eats an apple a day, it could prevent or delay about 8,500 vascular deaths from heart attack and stroke every year in the UK.

28. Practise safe pillow talk

When it comes to good sleep hygiene, you know the basic rules: Keep your room dark, cool and free of electronic devices that can wreak havoc on your circadian rhythm. But here’s something new to add to your list: your topic of choice for late-night conversations. According to Dr. Robert Rosenberg, author of The Doctor’s Guide to Sleep Solutions for Stress & Anxiety, talking about serious subjects before bed is a no-no. Whether it’s a solemn phone call with a friend or a late-night tiff with your partner, a heavy conversation can disrupt the quality of your sleep. “Confrontations lead to a stress response, causing your adrenal glands to produce cortisol and adrenaline,” he says. “This is the exact opposite of what you want if you’re trying to fall asleep easily. In fact, once your body starts producing these stress hormones, you can’t wave a magic wand and get them to return to normal levels.”

29. Go nuts

Here’s yet another reason to spread almond butter on your toast or sprinkle walnuts on your salad: Both contain melatonin, the hormone that regulates your sleep/wake cycle and helps you sleep soundly.

30. Pick a posy

There’s a good reason why flowers are one of the top gifts we bring to loved ones in the hospital: They are an instant mood booster. Why not treat yourself? You don’t need to spend a cent; just head to the nearest green space and pick a handful of wildflowers.

Next: 12 Perfect Recipes for Summer Picnics