Hype aside, what can infrared saunas actually do for you and your health? Here’s what some of that preliminary research says about four potential benefits of infrared saunas: In a small 2009 study, 17 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 17 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (an inflammatory disease that can affect the spine) completed eight infrared sauna sessions over the course of four weeks. Results showed that during these sessions, patients experienced decreased pain and stiffness1 to a statistically significant degree....

Another good indication of how to properly store your probiotic is how it was stored when you bought it. If you found it in the refrigerated section of your local health food store, or it was shipped from the manufacturer with an ice pack, chances are, it’ll probably need to stay refrigerated. On the other hand, if your probiotics use shelf-stable technology, the label will say that, too. Many manufacturers even add some extra information about the proper way to store nonrefrigerated probiotics to extend their shelf-life....

Each stage has a different function, and getting enough Stage 3 (also known as slow-wave sleep, deep sleep, and delta sleep), is essential if you want to wake up feeling restored. Here’s what happens while you’re in deep sleep, plus how to make sure you’re spending enough time in this stage nightly. About 20 to 25% of our time asleep is spent in this stage. This is also the stage in which delta brain waves—slow waves that signal relaxation—start to occur....

All that might make you think it’d be really easy or obvious to steer clear of narcissists when it comes to relationships, but not every narcissist displays their narcissistic behavior so obviously, especially at the start of a relationship. As the researchers explain in the paper, recently published in the Journal of Psychology, there are actually two kinds of narcissism: grandiose and vulnerable. A grandiose narcissist has all the qualities we usually associate with narcissism: They’re arrogant, entitled, and self-centered; refuse to acknowledge their faults and mistakes; and are willing to hurt others (or are altogether indifferent to other people’s suffering) to make themselves feel superior....

To find out what fasted cardio entails and whether it’s safe and effective, mbg spoke with experts in exercise physiology and sports dietetics, who shared insight about exercising on an empty stomach. “Generally, it takes about four to five hours to completely digest a meal,” exercise physiologist John Ivy, Ph.D., says. “So after a meal, one would have to wait probably a minimum of four hours to get the benefit of fasted cardio....

Scorpio, on the other hand, is a fixed water sign ruled by Pluto, the planet of transformation and rebirth. It’s represented by the scorpion, inspired by Greek lore that a scorpion stung and killed Orion. Air and water are already pretty uncomplimentary to begin with, as water deals with emotions, while air is all about thought. Plus, mutable signs and fixed signs have very different modes of operating, with fixed signs embodying a kind of “workhorse” mentality and mutable signs embodying the energy of “the editor....

These days, more and more people are stepping out of the binary and taking hold of more fitting terms to express themselves, including in ways sometimes described as gender nonconforming (GNC). Gender nonconforming is also sometimes considered an umbrella term that can apply to anyone that is not cisgender, says sexologist Carol Queen, Ph.D. For reference, someone who is cisgender is someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth....