But let us emphasize complex carbs here: This does not mean you should dig into a bowl of potato chips before bed. You still want to choose foods with a low glycemic index in order to keep your blood sugar balanced. (Because, friendly reminder, your blood sugar also affects your shut-eye.) Some of the best nutrient-dense sources of complex carbs include sweet potatoes, beets, squash, and carrots—but check out our full guide to keto carb cycling, if you’re curious. 

Bonus points if you choose foods rich in magnesium, too, as the mineral is important for a bunch of functions in the body, including sleep.* Some favorites include: Chickpeas, bananas, pumpkin seeds, and we could go on (so we’ll just send you here for a quick recap). 

And if you’d like even more of a nudge before bed, you can lean on sleep supplements clinically shown to have a calming effect on the brain. Our very own sleep support+ was designed with leading researchers and physicians to help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up feeling more refreshed, featuring 120 mg of highly absorbable and gentle magnesium bisglycinate with jujube seed extract and PharmaGABA®.* It’s a well-rounded supplement free of GMOs, gluten, dairy, soy, and food allergens, and it can seamlessly fit into any lifestyle.

The thing is, your body is programmed to thrive when things are balanced. When one hormone is off, then many others get thrown off. And cortisol is no exception. When it remains elevated, it can unbalance many of your other hormones, including your sex hormones, which will tank your sex drive. 

Seriously, especially for women in menopause, you cannot produce cortisol at the same time as you produce your sex hormones. As women enter menopause, the ovaries hand over the responsibility of making sex hormones (estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone) to the adrenals. When your adrenals are in fight-flight-or-freeze mode, they don’t have capacity to make cortisol and fuel your sex drive. That’s why when you’re a stress ball, the last thing you want is for the hubs to wink at you over the dinner table. 

The imbalance of those sex hormones coming from your adrenals also fuels your hot flashes and night sweats—everybody says “my hormones are off,” and they think it’s normal menopause. It’s not. It’s stress! 

The same can be said about cortisol for men (granted, not the menopause part). For men, the big worry is cortisol “steal.” See, cortisol uses the same pathways in your body as testosterone, and there’s only room for one hormone in that pathway! So if men are making too much cortisol, they are decreasing their testosterone production. In other words, either you’re stressing out and pushing cortisol through your body or you’re chilling and letting the testosterone come out to play. 

Sex or stress? It’s your choice!

Women’s sleep was “largely unaffected” by the lunar cycle, corresponding study author and neuroscience expert Christian Benedict, Ph.D., said in a news release.

As the study authors note, one explanation for this is that during the waxing period, the moon is getting brighter and is typically in the sky in the late evening (when most people are going to bed). During the waning period, on the other hand, the moon gradually reflects less and less light and shifts into daytime hours.

They add that previous research has shown the male brain responds to changes in red and blue light at a “twofold higher stimulus-response curve” compared to women, which could also contribute to the discrepancy.

As a gentle backbend, cobra pose is great for strengthening and increasing flexibility in the spine, as well as opening up the chest and shoulders. This makes it effective for improving posture, plus the heart-opening aspect means it’s also great for the heart chakra. Through engaging the lower body, Cobra works the glutes, too, and can even help with sciatica.

It may hold some additional health benefits, too. In traditional yogic texts, cobra pose is said to help helps destroy disease in the body, and even awakens kundalini energy. Chiropractor and yoga instructor Emily Kiberd, D.C. notes that, in line with these ancient teachings, many people believe cobra is a good pose for the immune system—it’s thought to stimulate the thymus, an organ responsible for the growth of T-cells.

You’ll likely wind up doing cobra pose in yoga classes, particularly during sun salutations—but you can also do it anytime you feel the need to stretch your back and open your chest (like after sitting over your computer for hours). Whenever you do decide to do it, expect a nice energy boost and a more flexible spine.

Let’s back up for a second. Mold is a fungus that exists anywhere there is moisture; so basically, it’s everywhere — in the air and vents, under the floor, and in your walls and carpet. Some mold is OK, but when you’re exposed to too much toxic mold that releases mycotoxins or mold toxins (such as stachybotrys, aspergillus, fusarium and citrinin) it can trigger inflammation. It’s also worth noting that mycotoxins aren’t the kind of mold you see growing on expired yogurt or forgotten leftovers, they’re not actually visible to the naked eye.

It’s important to know that some people are more sensitive to mold than others. Most people have healthy detox and methylation pathways to clear out mold, but some people, especially people with a family history of autoimmune issues, may have more of a challenge flushing them out.

In my experience working with patients, I’ve found mycotoxin exposure can trigger inflammatory issues and mimic symptoms of other health problems (think: chronic fatigue), which means a lot of people miss this piece of their health puzzle. While I often recommend that my patients test for mold in their home, car, or workplace, I sometimes find that diet is a major factor—particularly when a person’s home test comes back clean. 

And sure enough, when I dive a little deeper into their health history and run urine and blood mycotoxin labs (note: these aren’t yet recognized by the CDC, but I’ve found useful in my work), they often reveal a diet high in mycotoxins. So, if any of the above applies to you, you’ve hit a health plateau, or you’d just like to be particularly cautious about what you eat—consider proceeding with a bit of caution when it comes to these potentially moldy foods.

If you deal with sinus headaches or sinus pressure, the pain can also make it difficult to relax at the end of the day. You may have also noticed congestion gets worse when you lie down, due to more blood flow to your head.

“When we sleep, one of the major disruptive factors is any sort of respiratory obstruction,” Moday tells mbg, adding, “Just as sleep apnea causes us to wake up multiple times during the night, if you can’t breathe through your nose, it’s going to cause frequent awakenings or snoring.”

All of these factors can lead to sleep that’s not as restorative as it could be.

The study concluded that, when compared to older men, older women were more likely to have a stronger association between mental health and diet—with specifically four factors to watch out for: “Fast food, skipping breakfast, caffeine, and high-glycemic food are all associated with mental distress in mature women,” explains study author Lina Begdache, Ph.D., an assistant professor of health and wellness studies.

The debate over whether or not to eat breakfast may rage on, but the other three habits Begdache calls out aren’t entirely surprising. Anxiety is a common side effect of consuming too much caffeine, high-glycemic foods are likely to cause blood sugar spikes (and crashes) that could impact mood, and fast food isn’t exactly known as great fuel for the body—so why would it be great for the mind?

While plenty of previous research has looked into the link between diet and mental health, with this study, Begdache hoped to observe if customizing diet and lifestyle factors could help to improve mental well-being. “Interestingly, we found that for unhealthy dietary patterns, the level of mental distress was higher in women than in men,” she shares—which means women, in particular, may want to think twice about how these habits show up in their routines.

When we think of the myriad things that affect the skin, perhaps things like diet, moving your body, drinking water, and so forth also come to mind. But one of the biggest influences on the skin is our hormones, as they influence so much of our overall health.

On some level, you likely understand that hormones affect our skin, whether that’s acne during puberty or skin flare-ups as part of a monthly cycle. But it’s not just the sex hormones that change our complexion; several other hormones do so as well. And on this week’s episode of Clean Beauty School, I spoke about this with hormone expert and board-certified dermatologist Keira Barr, M.D. In it, she shared how dealing with hormones is never a one-size-fits-all endeavor, but there are things we can all pay attention to. 

“I think it’s so valuable to understand you are unique—we have a lot of similarities, but your particular situation may not fit neatly into a box,” she says. 

Here, three major hormone triggers that mess with your skin:

Given hair has so many variables, there’s no once-sized-fits-all advice. Case in point? When to brush your hair. For the longest time, I thought I needed to brush my hair dry. This is because wet hair is swollen and more fragile, prone to stretching and breaking. (“Hair is very elastic when it’s wet,” Clay Nielsen, a hair care expert and celebrity stylist, previously told us about wet hair.) And here’s the thing: For those with straight or loose waves, this advice is true—you’re better off taking the detangler to your hair when dry than wet.

But for those with curls? We’re better off doing our detangling in the shower with loads of conditioner. “Never dry brush your ringlets. Cleanse scalp and hair in warm water to remove dirt, sweat, and product buildup, then rinse, then apply conditioner,” says Branch. “Use a nourishing conditioner to gently detangle hair. Practice patience, be kind to your hair, and use your fingers and/or a wide-toothed comb.”

Buying fruits and veggies in their whole form, rather than pre-chopped, is one of the simplest ways to save a few bucks. When difficult-to-peel pomegranates are in question, though, it can be tempting to pay for the convenience of pre-packaged arils (aka the juicy, edible seeds from the pom). 

Before you give in, registered dietitian nutritionist and mbg Collective member Maya Feller, M.S., R.D.,CDN, shares a couple of mess-free tricks for de-seeding pesky pomegranates yourself. 

According to Feller, learning to access pomegranate arils (sans stains) is one of the “best cooking hacks” she’s been taught. Here are the two methods she recommends: