If you’ve kept up to date with us this past year, health has been a big deal. We’ve all been a little extra health conscious since December of 2019, but 2022 has diversified how we look at taking care of ourselves.
Aside from pandemic-related health stories, we also took a look at holistic health stories. From taking vitamins (and which kind) to debunking myths surrounding wet hair and illness, here are our top health stories of the year.
Take your vitamins
We all took vitamins as kids, but the practice may have been lost on us as adults. With so many different types of vitamins and supplements to choose from, it can get a little overwhelming. While vitamins and supplements aren’t strictly necessary for everyone to take, most of us need the little extra push that our diets are lacking.
This guide covers who needs to take vitamins, how to determine what kind of vitamins you need to take (if any), and a cheat sheet for the benefits of all the common vitamins you can find. While it’s always best to consult your doctor for any health-related concerns you may have, we hope this guide helped you learn a bit more about what you might need to bring up during your consultation.
Acupressure for work-related stress
There are only two constants in this world: change and work-related stress. There’s nothing we can do about the former, but using acupressure to relieve the latter can do wonders for people who were chained to their desks all year long.
The ancient technique involves gently massaging certain areas of the body to address aches and pains brought about by work. It’s an ancient practice that has roots in Chinese traditional medicine and can be used as a quick, non-invasive way to mitigate work-related pains like headaches, eye strain, and lower back pain.
Natural remedies for an upset stomach
Concocting natural remedies for a stomach ache is something that’s been done for centuries. Modern medicine has made leaps and bounds in terms of curing ailments and such, but sometimes, we already have what can help us in our pantry.
For people who want to take a more natural approach to non-urgent stomach pains, ingredients like ginger, peppermint oil, and probiotic-rich foods are staples in helping ease some discomfort. If all else fails, you can always try laying on your left side to help ease the pain.
Using light to help with sleepless nights
It may seem counterintuitive to use light to help with sleeping problems, but researchers and professors at Stanford University have found that using light therapy can help people sleep more soundly through the night.
Light therapy is the practice of exposing people to bursts of light while sleeping to help the brain adjust its internal clock. This form of therapy can help people who aren’t accustomed to waking up early in the morning, or passengers on long haul flights to adjust to the local time without jet lag.
There are tons of sleep clinics across the world that help people get a better night’s sleep, but you can also do it yourself at the comfort of your own home. Just make sure to get a quality light therapy lamp (and permission from your doctor).
Cleaning up bar soap’s dirty name
Bar soap has a bad rap for being “dirty” due to the communal nature of its use, but the truth is that the literal dirt on bar soap isn’t something we should worry about. Dirt lies on the soap’s exterior, which means a good scrub and a pass under running water should wash the dirt away.
Bar soap can also clean just as well as its liquid counterpart if you wash your hands the right way. Other bar soap bonuses include being cheaper, better for the environment, and the variety of patterns, colors, and scents you can enjoy after you’ve gotten over your bias against bar soap.
Tarot as a tool for mental health
The practice of tarot has really taken off since the start of the pandemic. From being a very niche interest, the ancient practice has garnered more and more attention due to its popularity on TikTok.
A number of us may associate tarot with the occult and fortune telling, but it can also be used as a tool to help with mental health. Having your cards read (or reading them yourselves) can be used as a way to reflect your inner world and bring it to the forefront. And that’s just what’s on the surface.
Debunking myths on wet hair
We’ve all received a good scolding from our (well meaning) moms or lolas about sleeping with wet hair. The belief goes that sleeping with wet hair will make us sick, blind, or crazy—but science begs to differ.
There’s no scientific correlation between sleeping with wet hair and getting sick, but we should still avoid it for other reasons. The reason being wet hair on pillows create a moist environment for bacteria and fungi to grow. And honestly? That’s reason enough to bust out the blow dryer or sacrifice a few minutes of sleep to sit in front of the fan and dry our tresses out.
A diet… for allergies
Having allergies and not knowing what causes them can drive anyone crazy. While there are medical tests you can take to figure out your allergies and intolerances, it can be expensive, time consuming, and painful.
For those without the time or resources to take those tests, the elimination diet is a great way to help you figure out which foods to avoid. In a nutshell, an elimination diet is basically taking away potential food allergens from your diet and reintroducing them after two weeks.
There are different levels to the diet in terms of how many types of food or food groups you take away, but the goal is to see what your body reacts to. Oh, and did we mention that it’s free?