What Your Poop and Pee are Telling You About Your Body

Ever wonder what’s going on inside your body? Sometimes it may seem hard to tell without blood tests, doctor’s appointments and expensive screenings. However, there are numerous ways you can assess your health every day without even leaving your house (or bathroom). 

Going to the bathroom might seem like a standard daily task, but it’s actually a reflection of what’s happening inside your body—what your body likes, what it needs, even serious conditions it might be struggling with. Poop and pee are your friends and they’re trying to tell you something! This infographic can help you read the signs.

6 Mood-Boosting Foods

Can you eat your way to a better mood? More and more scientific research is saying so. Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is important for your general health, so why should it be any different for your mental health? From depression-fighting seeds to anxiety-zapping greens, read about the best nutrients for your mood. 

1. SESAME SEEDS

Good things come in small packages. The unassuming sesame seed is loaded with mood-boosting nutrients. Sesame seeds are on of the best vegetarian sources of zinc, a mineral that has been linked to depression and anxiety. One study found that zinc treatment lowered the depression and anger levels of young women. Other studies have suggested using the mineral as a treatment for depression.  

 2. DARK CHOCOLATE

A few bites of real, dark chocolate each day will help your mood and your tastebuds! Studies have suggested that dark chocolate reduces the level of cortisol, a stress hormone, in your body; it may also relieve anxiety. 

3. SPINACH

As if you needed another reason to love spinach! This leafy green is loaded with all sorts of mood-boosting nutrients, from depression-fighting folates (more on that later) to anxiety-easing magnesium. Spinach also contains plenty of zinc—studies have shown that, the less zinc you have in your body, the more likely you are to be depressed.  

4. YOGURT

Yogurt is an excellent vegetarian source of vitamin B12, a vital nutrient for the formation of red blood cells. For reasons scientists aren’t exactly clear on yet, B vitamins seem to play a vital role in our mental health. Vitamin B12 deficiencies in particular have been linked to high rates of depression, and studies have suggested that strong intake of the vitamin may improve depression treatment outcomes. If your body doesn’t get enough of the stuff, it can actually lead to serious mental health issues.

Because plants cannot make Vitamin B12, your best sources for the stuff are dairy products, eggs, seafood and meat. Vegans and older adults are especially at risk of a Vitamin B12 deficiency, and may want to talk with their doctors about supplements or fortified foods.  

5. LENTILS

Lentils, along with other foods rich in folic acid, are a key nutrient for treating depression. Like it’s B vitamin cousin, vitamin B12, plenty of research has linked low levels of folic acid to depression. It’s also thought that high levels of the vitamin will actually help anti-depressants work more effectively.

Other Foods Rich in Folates: Pinto, black, navy, kidney & garbanzo beans; spinach, asparagus, turnip greens and broccoli. 

6. FLAXSEEDS

The countries with the lowest rates of depression tend to have one thing in common: they also eat the most fish. Scientists think this is because fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Studies have shown that these polysaturated fats can improve your mood, and help treat depression and postpartum depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Though fish is probably your best source of omega-3 fatty acids, most healthy people can get all of it they need from flaxseeds and flaxseed oil. You can also check out supplements or sea vegetables if you are a vegan or a vegetarian.

Beet Juice May Help With Heart Disease

The benefits of beetroot juice are vast and the scientific knowledge of its effects on the body continue to grow. The newest perk to add to the list is how beet juice can help with heart disease patients whose sympathetic nervous systems kick into overdrive. Dietary nitrates are found in high amounts in this liquid gold (liquid ruby? liquid garnet?), which create this internally calming effect and could possibly be an important treatment component for patients with cardiovascular troubles.

Overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system can result in high blood pressure, heart rate and blood vessel constriction. The increased nerve activity in this bodily system has been linked to certain forms of cardiovascular disease, including heart failure. To bring this level of activity back down, researchers published a study in the journal American Journal of Physiology —Heart and Circulatory Physiology on nitrate supplementation. The study was the first of its kind on the topic.

Participants were closely examined for their blood pressure, heart rate and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) rates while at rest and while performing a handgrip exercise. They were then given either a beetroot juice drink or a placebo and instructed to rest on their backs for a three hour period.

The researchers found that MSNA burst rates, responsible for activation of the sympathetic nervous system, were lower in those who drank beet juice versus the placebo beverage. “These results provide proof-of-concept that dietary nitrate supplementation can modulate central sympathetic outflow and suggest that the established cardiovascular benefits [of dietary nitrate] are likely to involve a neural contribution,” said the team of researchers. In other words, how the sympathetic nerve system behaves is a key component in the progression of cardiovascular diseases, and this study shows it.

The benefits of beet juice are not a new concept. Drinking some a few hours before working out can improve your endurance and performance without raising your heart rate as much, meaning your body is better utilizing the oxygen you are breathing in. Beet juice can also lower blood pressure and be an aphrodisiac (what!).

To give beet juice a try, you can buy it at the store or juice some at home. The commercially bottled stuff (that usually has a bunch of other ingredients) or supplements won’t typically get the job done. You can also step outside your morning coffee comfort zone and sip on a beet juice latte in the morning!

The Weird Side Effect of Not Getting Enough Sleep

You know that it’s important to get a good night’s sleep, and odds are you probably try to do the best that you can. However, plenty of people fall short of getting as much sleep as they need — Gallup reports that 42 percent of adults in the U.S. don’t get enough shut-eye.

Now, a May 17 study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science has found that a lack of zzz’s will do more than make you tired — it can be a turn-off to other people. For the study, researchers photographed 25 people, after two days of not getting enough sleep and after getting a good night’s sleep. The pictures were given to 122 people to rate how much they would like to socialize with the study participants. They were also asked to rate participants’ attractiveness, health, sleepiness, and trustworthiness.

Here’s what they discovered: People were less inclined to want to socialize with those who hadn’t gotten enough sleep. Not only that, but when people were tired, they were rated as less attractive and less healthy than when they were well rested. “These findings suggest that … people are less inclined to interact with a sleep-deprived individual,” researchers concluded in the paper.

That’s potentially a problem for a lot of people: According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults over the age of 18 need a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night — and many don’t get that.

But Kimberly Fenn, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University, who was not involved in the study, tells Yahoo Beauty that she’s not shocked by the study findings. “Sleep deprivation is associated with a wide variety of physiological changes, such as impaired immune function, reduced cardiovascular health, and even impaired glucose metabolism,” she says, which is why people who are sleep deprived can be viewed as less healthy.

However, Fenn says she’s surprised by how quickly these effects surface. After just two nights of not getting enough sleep, there were significant differences in how people were perceived, she points out. “This is important because the average amount of sleep that Americans obtain per night has been dramatically declining over the past few decades,” she says. “This is a clear illustration that reduced sleep may also have serious social consequences.”

Lead study author Tina Sundelin, a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, tells Yahoo Beauty that she’s not totally sure why people don’t want to socialize with those who look sleepy but points out that it may be due to a disease-avoidance tendency. “People who look tired also look less healthy,” she explains. Or, she adds, it could also be that we tend to assume that people who look tired aren’t going to be in the mood for socializing.

Sundelin notes that the impact of sleep restriction on a person’s appearance is “fairly small,” but it can make people perceive you differently. If you’re struggling to get enough sleep, she recommends stopping work on your phone or computer an hour before bed, keeping your bedroom just for sleeping, and trying to have regular sleep hours. These are small tweaks, but they can help you nab more sleep and change how the world perceives you.

Racist Professor Tells White Men To Quit Or Be Demoted

A University of Hawaii assistant math professor who holds a PhD degree in mathematics from Princeton University has a new racist equation she wants to promote: white + man + job = her order for white males to quit or be demoted.

Piper Harron wrote on a blog for the American Mathematical Society (AMS), titling her piece, “Get Out The Way.”

Harron began with her demand: 

Not to alarm you, but I probably want you to quit your job, or at least take a demotion. Statistically speaking, you are probably taking up room that should go to someone else. If you are a white cis man (meaning you identify as male and you were assigned male at birth) you almost certainly should resign from your position of power.

If that didn’t suffice, there was more: “Get off your hiring committee, your curriculum committee, and make sure you’re replaced by a woman of color or trans person … Remember that you live in a world where people don’t succeed in a vacuum; most success happens on the backs of others who did not consent. You have no idea how successful you would have been if you were still you, but with an additional marginalization (not white, or not male, or not cis gender, or with a disability, etc).”

After some endless ranting about needs of non-traditional families, Harron paused for a moment to snarl:

Ask yourself who benefits when your sexist society views (“traditional”) marriage as sacred. Ask yourself how we’d talk about marriage and divorce if women were allowed to be. I’m convinced that mixed in with the homophobia that propelled conservatives to suddenly want government all up in our personal lives was misogyny that said it just isn’t “marriage” if you don’t have one man (ruling) and one woman (being ruled).

Then the advice for universities:

What can universities do? Well, that’s easier. Stop hiring white cis men (except as needed to get/retain people who are not white cis men) until the problem goes away. If you think this is a bad or un-serious idea, your sexism/racism/transphobia is showing … When the applications come in, remember society makes dominant applicants look better than they are. Society makes marginalized applicants look worse than they are. There is no objectivity. There is no meritocracy.

Harron concluded:

I know you’re not going to quit your job, but I want you to understand that you should. And to understand that by keeping your job and your other unearned privileges, you are running a continued debt to marginalized people and you should always be seeking ways to pay us back. Not to alarm you, but statistically speaking you are the problem. Your very presence. I can’t tell you what is the best strategy for you to stop blocking my path. I can just ask that you please get out of my way.

On the “About the Editors” page, Harron’s bio states that she “tried really hard to play by the rules of society and academia, but she failed. Not only did she fail, but she was miserable and found that playing by the rules wouldn’t even keep her safe … She dedicates her work to everyone who dabbles in misery, trying to find their way in systems that don’t support them, and to anyone trying to tear it all down. ”

Dad Raises $25,000 To Pay Off Lunch Debt At 99 Schools

At schools across the country, an outstanding lunch balance can mean that children will be refused a hot meal and have to eat a sandwich. It's called lunch shaming, and it went viral after several cafeteria workers quit over the issue. 

But one dad is determined to stop it. Seattle parent Jeffery Lew decided to ensure every  student at his son's school was debt-free. After finding out that the total amount of debt was $97.10, he decided to start a GoFundMe page to find parents willing to help. 

Since Lew posted the fundraiser 10 days ago, it's surpassed that goal somewhat, raising $25,973 as of the time of writing. So now, Lew has been able to pay off debt for all students at Seattle Public Schools —  the largest K-12 school district in the state of Washington, which amounted to $20,531.79.

"It was a little bit overwhelming," Lew told CBS News. "It was quite amazing that the community came together to tackle this. Some people would say, 'This guy's a hero,' but I'm just a guy who went online." 

Leftover money will go toward other school districts in need, Lew said, hoping that the donation can help prevent bullying. 

"If a kid doesn't have enough money or owes money they may not end up getting a complete meal. Kids can be cruel and make fun of them. That can be really harsh on a child. They don't have a concept of what money is. No kid should go hungry because they don't have any money. They should eat the same food their classmates are eating and not get shamed for that." 

"I want to keep this cause spreading, give back any way we can," Lew said. "Maybe we can cover the state of Washington or help other parents create campaigns for their school districts — bring this nationwide." 

Seattle Public Schools said in a statement:

"The recent parent-organized campaign to pay down school lunch debt for Seattle Public Schools reflects the generosity of our families and communities. As a district, we are committed to partnering with families and communities to provide students the best educational experience. Part of that experience is making sure all of our students have access to a healthy breakfast and lunch, whether they have money to pay for meals at the time or not." 

First Women’s College to Accept Trans Women Gets “Surprising” News

The first all-female college in the United States to admit male undergraduate students who identify themselves as female officially declared a “financial emergency” earlier this week.

The women’s school in dire economic straits is Mills College in Oakland, California, reports Inside Higher Ed.

The board of trustees announced that Mills is currently running a $9 million yearly operating deficit. The $9 million shortfall is about 16 percent of the school’s 2017 budget of $57 million.

The budgetary crisis will cause professors and administrators to lose their jobs, trustees said. Also, there is a plan in the works to restructure the curriculum.

The bylaws at Mills contain a codicil allowing the board of trustees “to reorder the college’s financial obligations” and “restructure all of its expenses, including staff and faculty salary and other expenses” in the event that fundamental “financial stability” is at stake, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Mills College president Elizabeth L. Hillman said she expects up to 35 faculty layoffs. Tenured professors will not be spared.

All told, the small, residential liberal arts college employs about 570 full-time and part-time professors, administrators and other employees.

A single year of undergraduate tuition, fees and room and board at Mills costs $59,163.

Mills has an endowment of about $177 million.

For the 2015-2016 academic year, Mills received just 839 applications.

In August 2014, Mills College became the first women’s college in the United States to admit male students who call themselves females but fail to possess the requisite genitalia. 

“Students who self-identify as female are eligible to apply for undergraduate admission,” the trailblazing admissions policy stated. “This includes students who were not assigned to the female sex at birth but live and identify as women at the time of application. It also includes students who are legally assigned to the female sex, but who identify as transgender or gender fluid.”

The policy statement added that “self-identification shall be the driving force behind the College’s eligibility decision.”

Females who have undergone surgical mutilation to become male were not allowed, however.

“Students assigned to the female sex at birth who have undergone a legal change of gender to male prior to the point of application are not eligible for admission,” the policy read.

In the wake of its announced financial crisis, Mills appears to doubling down on radical causes.

The new curriculum — “a bold new education experience” called MillsNext — “will provide students with the tools and confidence to solve complex problems, communicate across differences and take action aimed at transforming their communities and the world,” according to documents obtained by Inside Higher Ed.

Mills will focus its new curriculum on issues including “gender and racial justice.”

A handful of other women’s colleges have changed their policies to allow male students who call themselves transgender since Mills changed its policy.

In 1990, in the midst of declining enrollment and financial struggles, officials at Mills attempted to admit males of any variety. However, after over 300 angry students held a two-week strike, alumnae created a — now apparently failed — financial plan to preserve the status of Mills as a women’s college, The Associated Press reported at the time.