Our culture is really uptight about bathroom stuff, but I joke with my clients that having worked in hospitals, I’m pretty much impossible to shock—especially in that realm. If you’ve ever stayed in a hospital, it might have seemed like every person who came into the room wanted to know if you were passing gas or moving your bowels or making urine. They weren’t just being nosy—those are bodily functions that tell us a lot about the state of a person’s health....

Though people of all genders can have narcissistic personality disorder, studies have shown men tend to display more narcissistic behaviors. So how can someone spot narcissism in a woman? But men and women are socialized differently and thus are more likely to develop specific personality traits, and these differences can be seen between male and female narcissists as well. “Although there are shared narcissistic traits between male and female narcissists, there are some differences in which their narcissism is exhibited,” psychoanalyst Babita Spinelli, L....

First things first: What is gluten? Why is gluten such a problem now? We’re no longer eating the wheat that our parents ate. In order to have the drought-resistant, bug-resistant, and faster-growing wheat that we have today, we’ve hybridized the grain. It’s estimated that 5% of the proteins found in hybridized wheat are new proteins that were not found in either of the original wheat plants. These “new proteins” are part of the problem that has lead to increased system inflammation and intolerance of gluten....

That said, don’t negate the power of acupuncture: Studies have demonstrated that our bodies have biomechanical responses to the procedure. “Connective tissue subtly wraps around the needle—it’s called ’needle grasp1,’ and this is what we acupuncturists feel as ‘de chi,’ which we translate to ’the chi arriving at the needle.’ It feels like a very subtle tug of a fish on a line. That feeling is how I know I’ve hit the right spot and that your body is responding to the needle the way I want it to,” says Altneu....

If you’re looking to become more flexible in your body, here are eight tips that can make it easier than you ever thought possible. (Plus, a video with some stretching exercises) What scientists and athletes now understand is that flexibility begins in your mind. If your mind thinks it needs to defend against injury (or against you!) it might do just that, bracing for impact and making you less flexible. That said, if you push your muscles hard to get in a stretch, and probably won’t won’t see lasting gains....

This go-round, we’re diving into square nails: It’s a modern yet classic nail shape that withstands the test of time. Below, we tapped experts to get the scoop on square nails, including how to achieve them and tricks for taking your at-home mani from basic to salon-worthy. First, there are round nails, which are exactly what they sound like: straight on the sides with rounded edges. Then there are oval nails, which are a variation of the round shape but with corners that curve inward, says celebrity manicurist and brand founder Deborah Lippmann....

(And if you aren’t thinking about any of this, apologies for that dark glimpse inside my brain.) And I was right! Here, Morris walks through the way she’s approaching holiday shopping this year and shares some great tidbits that anyone could use along the way. “To me, the biggest thing is trying to figure out what the values are of the recipient and how I can buy into those values,” she tells mbg....