Latest news with #AmIDoingItWrong?
Buzz Feed
17 hours ago
- Health
- Buzz Feed
The One Food You Should Always Eat At Breakfast
From Apple Jacks to cheese omelettes, blueberry pancakes to leftover pizza, there are a zillion and one potential choices for breakfast these days. But some options are definitely more nutrient-rich than others. So what would a dietitian's No. 1 pick be? And how can we get more good stuff into our bodies first thing in the morning without sacrificing deliciousness? That's the question that we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the hosts of HuffPost's Am I Doing It Wrong? podcast ― had for Lisa Moskovitz, a registered dietitian, certified dietitian-nutritionist and the CEO of NY Nutrition Group, when she dropped by our studio to offer her tips and tricks for doing breakfast better. Listen to the full episode here. Moskovitz's breakfast all-star is chia seeds, which are harvested from Salvia hispanica, a member of the mint family. 'It's a superfood because of all of the nutritional properties that it has, from fiber and magnesium to B vitamins and iron, and there's a little protein in there,' the author of The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan told us. They also contain omega-3 fatty acids, which help keep our brains and hearts healthy and have been shown to reduce inflammation. 'It's great for regulating digestion,' Moskovitz added, 'so for people that struggle ... with constipation and regularities, chia seeds are a great source of insoluble and soluble fiber.' In fact, just one serving of chia seeds — typically two to three tablespoons — offers nearly 10 grams of fiber, which is one-third of the recommended daily intake for most people. Fiber not only helps with digestion by bulking and softening stools; it's been found to lower the risk for many dangerous health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Chia seeds are also incredibly versatile and can be easily added to countless breakfast favorites to boost their nutritional benefits. 'You can sprinkle them in your yogurt, you can put them in your oatmeal, you can even sprinkle them on your avocado toast, in your eggs, in your coffee, and you can just take them in water,' Moskovitz suggested. 'You can soak them in your almond milk or dairy milk or any or oat milk and leave them in the fridge overnight, and that's a great grab-and-go.' By making tiny tweaks — including adding chia seeds or other nutrient-packed foods like nuts and fruit — to our tried and true breakfast go-tos, we can score more of what our bodies need without missing out on our morning favorites. 'Stop worrying about what to cut out and just think about what we can add in,' she advised. Moskovitz also chatted with us about the ideal time to eat breakfast, what to know before you eat another egg, the four things to add to every smoothie, and much more. Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.
Buzz Feed
3 days ago
- Health
- Buzz Feed
Eye Doctor Reveals Worst Thing For Your Eyes
The human eye is a wondrous thing. It is considered the body's most complex organ after the brain and contains over 2 million working parts. About 80% of all learning happens through vision. So how can we keep our eyes in tip-top condition? And what should we never do if we want them to stay as healthy as possible? That's what we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the hosts of HuffPost's 'Am I Doing It Wrong?' podcast — asked Dr. Amanda Redfern, an ophthalmologist and assistant professor at Oregon Health & Science University's Casey Eye Institute, when she recently dropped by our studio. ″[Sleeping with contact lenses in your eyes] is bad. It's real bad. Don't do it,' Redfern told us, adding that this even applies to naps. 'It's like a game of Russian roulette.' That's because you can get a corneal ulcer, which is an infection on part of the eye that a contact covers. 'It's not going to happen every time, but when it happens, it's terrible,' Redfern said. 'It can be so bad you could, in really terrible cases, lose your eyeball.' In less severe situations, Redfern said you could end up with a scar on your cornea. 'If that scar is in the center of your vision, that could affect your vision permanently, unless you get a corneal transplant,' she said. Redfern also warned us not to engage in any activity that could cause lenses to become compromised or contaminated, including swimming in a pool or lake while wearing contacts or even showering with them. 'The problem with contact lenses is that it will sandwich bacteria between the lens and your cornea, and you can get infected and then have all the complications we talked about,' she said. 'In general, we frown upon anything where your eye is going to expose to something nonsterile.' That includes using tap water to rinse or store lenses. When asked what she would suggest if someone were on vacation and forgot to bring contact lens solution, pushing them to choose between sleeping while wearing contacts or using tap water to store them, Redfern refused to pick either choice. 'Both of those are awful options,' she said. 'I'd rather you [throw the contacts out] and just walk around a little bit blurry for the weekend.' One thing Redfern does want us to do to keep our eyes healthy? Use eye protection more regularly. 'I always wear eye protection if I'm doing a house project where I'm hammering, sawing — anything where something can fly at my eye,' she said. 'Always wear eye protection, because I actually spend half my time seeing hospital consults and the trauma that you see is just crazy.' If you end up getting something lodged in your eye, don't try to remove it yourself. Instead, tape a paper cup over your eye and immediately see a medical professional. 'Pulling it out in an uncontrolled fashion [could cause] the inner contents of the eye to come out with it,' Redfern said. She also busted some myths about other activities that may be harmful or beneficial for the eyes (spoiler alert — reading in the dark isn't going to ruin your vision), why we get floaters (and when we should see a doctor about them), and lots more. Listen to the full episode above or wherever you get your podcasts. And for more from Redfern, check out her Instagram page.
Buzz Feed
08-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Buzz Feed
If You Use Laundry Detergent Pods, You Might Want To Stop, And This Is Why
Laundry. Sigh. If we're not doing it, we need to do it, or we just finished doing it, or we're going to have to do it soon. You'd think that because we can't escape it, we'd have perfected it by now, but too many of us are doing it all wrong. That's what we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the co-hosts of HuffPost's 'Am I Doing It Wrong?' podcast — discovered when we recently chatted with Patric Richardson, aka The Laundry Evangelist. Richardson fell in love with cleaning clothes when he was just 2-and-a-half years old and is now the king of a laundry empire that includes sold-out laundry camps, a bestselling book, his own laundry products and an HGTV show, 'The Laundry Guy.' One of the most shocking things we learned during our chat? We're probably using the wrong kind of detergent and way too much of it, which could be hindering how clean our clothes get. 'I'm always going to use laundry soap ... It's soap that's made [specifically] for laundry and then it's grated or ground,' Richardson said. 'It's going to be the cleanest, most gentle [choice].' But it can be difficult to find, so, if it's not available, he recommends buying detergent made specifically for baby clothes, which is also going to be gentle. Just make sure you're not using pods. 'I don't care if [your laundry detergent] comes as powder or liquid, but I don't like pods because I don't like that you can't control the amount,' he said. 'You don't need a pod's worth of detergent ... I think you only need about two tablespoons of detergent [for a load], so a bottle of laundry detergent might last you a year because you only need a couple of tablespoons for your clothes to come out clean.' Richardson advised that a little detergent goes a long way, like salt. 'When you're cooking and the recipe says a half tablespoon of salt, and you put it in, it's delicious,' he said. 'But if you're like, 'I love salt,' and you put in a whole cup, it's ruined, it's not better. So that's how to think about detergent: a little bit is really good, because it does what it's supposed to do. If you add a whole lot more, you actually ruin it.' There's a scientific reason for this. Laundry detergent is made up of surfactants, which are compounds that lift dirt and stains from clothes. 'The dirt and germs come off the clothes and go into the water,' Richardson explained. 'They get trapped in the surfactant and then, when the rinse comes, the surfactant goes down the drain. If you use too much detergent, it can't rinse out, so the surfactant actually resettles back in your clothes, and all of the dirt resettles back into your clothes with it. So more detergent means your clothes are actually dirty.' We also discussed why he never uses bleach, his trick for destroying static electricity in the dryer using something most people keep in their pantry, and much more. After you've had a listen above or wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe to 'Am I Doing It Wrong?' so you don't miss a single episode, including our investigations of the ins and outs of tipping, how to score the best deals on airline tickets, how to apologize or vanquish your credit card debt, how to find love online or overcome anxiety, online shopping tips for taking care of your teeth, pooping like a pro and secrets to booking and staying in a hotel.
Buzz Feed
27-06-2025
- Health
- Buzz Feed
Start By Doing This One Thing Every Week For A Healthy Gut
Attaining a healthy gut microbiome has long been all the rage in the wellness world, but now it seems everyone else — including countless TikTokers — has become obsessed. However, despite all of the reels, articles and advice we regularly encounter, many of us aren't exactly sure what the term even means. 'It's a scientific description of those trillions of microorganisms that live in our gut,' Megan Rossi, a Ph.D. and registered dietitian who is known in some circles as queen of gut health, recently told us — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, co-hosts of HuffPost's 'Am I Doing It Wrong?' podcast. 'It's not just bacteria — it's also the chemicals they're producing,' the founder of London's The Gut Health Clinic said. 'So it's that collection of the environment and all those microbes.' That little party, she explains, is mostly in the lower section of our gastrointestinal tracts — specifically the last 5 feet of our 30-foot-long digestive tract. Keeping it healthy can have huge benefits, not just for our guts but for our entire body — and even our mental health. Even though many of us have probably heard that 'good bacteria' and 'bad bacteria' can be found in our guts, Rossi wants us to reframe that binary. 'Very few [bacterium] are actually inherently bad. It's more about the environment they're in as well as their dominance ... . If we treat them well, they will then look after us.' So how do we improve the health of our gut microbiomes? Doctors and researchers are learning more every year — Rossi herself has authored more than 50 international peer-reviewed scientific papers on the topic — but one thing is certain: Eating as many plants as possible — ideally 30 different kinds per week — is key. 'When it comes to gut health, it's more about inclusion than exclusion,' Rossi said. 'Studies have shown that if we're adding in plenty of different types of plants, we're actually going to have much better gut health than people who fixate on cutting out what they think is the bad food.' For those worried about having to forage for twigs and berries to fulfill their gut's needs, Rossi explained that when she says 'plants,' she is specifically referring to six different and reasonably accessible groups she calls 'the super six': 1. whole grains (e.g. quinoa, oats) 2. nuts and seeds 3. vegetables 4. fruits 5. legumes 6. and herbs and spices 'Each different category provides your gut microbiome with different fertilizer,' Rossi noted. 'So what I get people to do is, firstly, think about diversifying their plants and trying to get 30 different kinds of plants across the week... once people nail that I think, OK, are you getting something from the 'super six' most days?' She added that many people aren't getting enough of certain plants, like legumes. 'Those are really important for feeding specific types of bacteria that have specific functions.' Rossi told us that eating lots of plants from the 'super six' groups on a daily basis ultimately will provide everything we need for a happy microbiome. 'If we want this diverse range of bacteria in our gut, which has shown to have a diverse range of skills and, kind of like super powers, then we need to feed them that diverse range of fertilizers, otherwise they'll die off — they won't grow.' We also discussed how our favorite vices, like alcohol and weed, might be affecting our microbiomes, whether probiotic supplements actually do anything for our guts and much more: Listen to the full episode here.
Buzz Feed
24-06-2025
- Health
- Buzz Feed
Proper Body Washing Technique – Are You Doing It Right?
For many of us, showering is not just part of our personal hygiene routine — it might be the only few minutes of peace, tranquility and reflection we get to ourselves in the day. And while the particulars of our showers might vary in terms of nature, duration and temperature, one thing remains constant: the quest to get squeaky clean. Our shower habits are usually based on how we were raised and our cultural backgrounds. That means some of us are all about the loofahs, others are team washcloth, and some rely on a sponge. But is all that exfoliating actually good for our skin? As we age, after all, so does the largest organ of our body: our glorious, sexy skinbag. Keeping our skin as healthy and supple as possible is paramount. So we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, hosts of HuffPost's 'Am I Doing It Wrong?' podcast — wanted to find out the optimal approach (from a clinical perspective) when we're soaping up in the shower. 'So 100%, it's your hands,' Dr. Divya Shokeen, the founder of Ocean Skin & Vein Institute in Manhattan Beach, California, recently told us when she dropped by our studio to chat about her showering secrets. 'There's no negotiation on that in terms of the medical studies.' Shokeen explained that when we use loofahs, sponges or any other implement to soap up, we are disrupting our skin's mantle, the natural film of oils and acids that protect it. We want to keep that mantle intact, she told us, because it shields us against barrier disruption and transepidermal water loss — and it keeps the bad bacteria out. 'Rubbing a washcloth on yourself repeatedly sloughs off a lot of dead skin cells or cells in general that are not ready to slough off,' Shokeen said. 'When that happens, you actually disrupt the top layer, which allows for more dehydration, water loss, and now you're going to have to use more lotion to minimize that.' And while we love a good post-shower lube job, we won't need all that extra lotion if we don't dry out and stress our skin while we're in the tub. Shokeen gave us another good reason to ditch the loofahs, washcloths and sponges. 'Anything that stays in the shower is apt to build mold and yeast and fungus,' she said. 'And then you're putting that on yourself.' We discovered a ton of other showering tips and tricks, including how long a shower should really last, what we should be doing (and not doing) when we wash our hair, and the skin-changing secret that only takes 30 seconds at the end of your cleansing session. For more from Dr. Shokeen, visit the websites for her dermatology practice and her skincare line.
