OCTOBER POP OVERVIEW 

Living a Simpler Lifestyle plus Breast Health

Feature: Living a Simpler Lifestyle                                                                      

Byline: Ronica O’Hara 

With the pandemic teaching us what truly matters, people are increasingly turning to simpler, sustainable, more conscious ways of living. That can mean everything from decluttering a room to moving to a more restful locale, from buying local vegetables to working for sustainable corporate reform. A sidebar includes checklists of minimalist, ecological and conscious living approaches and tasks.

Healthy Ways: Breast Health                                                    

Byline: Sandra Yeyati                         

One in eight American women develops breast cancer in the course of her lifetime, yet dietary strategies can sharply curtail that risk. Experts recommend women eat mostly plant-based meals, choose antibiotic-free animal and vegetable protein, minimize dairy or alcohol, and forego refined or processed carbohydrates like bread, white rice and cookies. Cleasing strategies like liver and gallbladder flushes and colonic irrigations can help the body purge toxins, and self-exams of the breasts remain a critical practice. 

Fit Body: Walking for Health                                                   

Byline: Laura Paisley Beck

No exercise is simpler than walking, yet not many of us do enough of it, as the country’s ever-climbing obesity rates demonstrate. To get in the recommended 30 minutes a day, it’s useful to schedule it. Walking a dog also conditions the body, and choosing the proper shoes, perhaps flat-soled barefoot shoes, can help prevent plantar fasciitis, hammertoe and other causes of pain. Includes a sidebar on healthy walking tips.

Healthy Kids:  Talking about Climate Change                            

Byline: Sandra Yeyati                         

Children are afraid, anxious and angry about climate change, which is why it’s important to have open, empathetic conversations with them about what’s happening on the planet, without over-dramatizing or sugarcoating the facts. Hearing the truth from the people they know and love in a calm and reassuring way can help them to develop the hope that will allow them to be part of the solution.

Wise Words: Michaeleen Doucleff on Hunter-Gatherer Parenting                                                             

Byline: Julie Peterson

The NPR science correspondent, frustrated by her toddler’s behavior, took the girl to hunter-gatherer cultures in the Yucatan, the Arctic Circle and Tanzania to explore how they raised happy, helpful children. She found that those parents treated their children in a gentle, calm and peaceful way by stressing cooperation, versus the yelling, bickering and nagging common among Western parents trying to control a child’s actions. Children need more connection, more responsibility, and more ways to contribute, she advises.

Conscious Eating: Fall Fruits                                                         

Byline: April Thompson

Crunchy pears, chewy figs, and tart pomegranates are not just for desserts or snacks: their unique flavors and textures also add depth and healthy zing to savory dishes. Leading chefs explain how to cook fall fruits and combine them in flavorful dishes, such as cold steamed crab with persimmon, crisp Asian pears with sashimi, and pears in vegan ceviche. With recipes for Pear Barley Salad and Pear and Lentil Salad.

Green Living: Water Scarcity                                                         

Byline: Jeremiah Castelo

The founder of World Water Reserve explains how disruption of the planetary hydrologic system caused by the building of dams, waterway pollution, road paving, drilling and bottled water privatization, in the midst of climate change and population growth, is causing severe water stress around the world. Half of the world’s population will be unable to access the water they need by 2025, and one-third of the world’s largest aquifers are running low on water. Includes a sidebar on solutions to water scarcity.

Natural Pet: CBD for Dogs                                                             

Byline: Caroline Coile

Pet owners report great success in using CBD to reduce anxiety and seizures in dogs, with it sometimes working within days to restore mobility to dogs hobbled by arthritic pain. Preliminary studies show this non-psychoactive part of the hemp plant can help dogs with arthritis, itchiness, aggressiveness and seizures. It’s best to choose a broad-spectrum product with third-party certificates regarding potency and heavy metal testing, and to be aware that it can affect the metabolism of a dog’s prescription drugs.

Inspiration: The Power of Intuition                                                  

Byline: Marlaina Donato 

Intuitive knowing, so often disparaged, was considered superior to knowledge by Albert Einstein. One study found that CEOs with high intuitive capacities doubled company profits within five years, and the military is now openly researching what it has termed “sensemaking.”  Intuitive flashes of instant knowing come easier when we’re free of anger or fear, and they can be cultivated with meditation, creative projects, time in nature, and social media sabbaticals.

Eco-Tip: Buy-Nothing Groups

Buy Nothing, a local group started by two Seattle-area women with the aim of reducing waste through neighborly sharing, has now grown to four million members in 44 countries. The Facebook-based local groups provide a free platform to give, ask, borrow and lend items. Food, clothing and toys are popular items, with the proviso that nothing can be bought or sold.