FeaturedMore

Are You Brushing Your Teeth The Correct Way?

Yes, as a matter of fact, there is a right and wrong way to brush your teeth. Beyond just avoiding cavities and decay, having proper toothbrushing technique helps to keep your heart healthy too. Seeing as we all have (hopefully) been brushing our teeth since before we could remember, you might think you are a PRO at this point. Nevertheless, you could be doing your twice daily routine improperly– putting your health at risk in the process. Fix it up with this simple correct guide!

man smiling with thumbs up, brushing his teeth.

The Time Taken For Brushing Teeth Is Key

It’s been drilled into our heads since childhood that brushing your teeth twice a day is the standard, once in the morning and once at night. This routine is perfectly healthy, so long as you brush your teeth for the right amount of time. According to Popular Science, the best teeth brushing is properly done with at least two minutes for each session. Realistically, this is probably longer than you are used to. In order to change this habit and ensure you are brushing for the right duration, you can bring a timer with you to the bathroom (on your phone works) and just brush away!

The Harder The Scrub Does NOT Mean The Better The Clean

Brushing your teeth should be gentle to your mouth and gums, not a harsh scrub fest. You should be aiming to brush at a 45 degree angle to your gums and using soft bristled brushes. If you find your gums habitually hurt after brushing your teeth, chances are it’s due to wrong technique and brush, both of which are easy fixes!

Keep It Interesting

If the main reason you don’t brush your teeth properly is because it’s boring, try to find ways to keep it interesting. Play music while in the bathroom or put on a video to distract yourself. That way the time will fly and you’ll keep up your health.

Photos: Freepik, Pixabay

Keep Your Information Safe By Avoiding These Online Actions

In the digital age where anything and everything is done online, it can be difficult to keep your information and identity safe. Even people who think they are being hyper-aware of the information they share on social networking sites can find themselves the victim of a cybercrime. To keep your information safe, you should avoid at all costs doing these common online actions.

Online Personality Quizzes

woman's hands on a mobile phone on facebook, with many faces of people in the background.

Facebook lost a lot of its credibility (and was fined big time) after a quiz site called “Cambridge Analytica” created personality quizzes that stored the information of all of its participants (and the Facebook friends of those participants). What seems like an innocent quiz about “what type of dessert are you,” is actually taking personal information from under your nose. Questions like “what was your first car” might seem innocent, but it’s the answer to a lot of security questions online… That said, you should avoid these quizzes at all cost, especially if they are from an unknown source.

Public Wifi

a hand clicking on wifi on a phone and other sources of information around it.

When you’re on vacation and don’t have wifi or data, it can be tempting to check in to the public wifi whenever you can. However, often these “public” hosts are not reliable, and actually track all of your actions while surfing. Logging into your email, monitoring your bank account, and checking other sites with personal and private information might all be traced and saved by hackers. It is best to wait until you are at a private Wifi zone with a secure password.

Text Message Promotions

a girl clicking on a link on her phone for more information.

Cyberhacks can also occur via text message through what is called “smishing.” If you have ever received a text message for a store discount with a link that redirects to a site asking for personal information, delete immediately! These are unlikely to be originally sent from the company. If you are not sure if the promo is valid or just a scam, try searching the domain name online to see if it is truly connected.

Posting Boarding Passes

An apple watch showing a boarding pass with personal information.

You have every right to feel ecstatic about your upcoming trip and sharing it with the world. However, sharing a photo of your boarding pass (or passport, license, etc) makes it possible for hackers to steal your identity. While a boarding pass might seem innocent to share, it actually contains information that could be used to access a frequent flyer account and credit card information. Ensure your vacation has zero security breaches by traveling with caution and care!

Photos: Freepik, Pixabay, Unsplash

The New iPhone Camera Is Giving People Anxiety

There is always lots of press and commentary surrounding the release of a new iPhone. The most recent, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, were revealed Tuesday night with a bold new upgrade from the already impressive previous design of the iPhone X. These new phones now have three rear cameras, which help to create professional looking photos (even at night). However, this new design comes at a price… triggering anxiety in people with trypophobia.

color variations of the new iPhone 11 Pro

What Even Is Trypophobia?

According to Irena Milosevic, author of “Phobias: The Psychology of Irrational Fear,” trypophobia is an “intense fear of a repetitive pattern of holes.” This might sound very strange upon reading, but when you look at some visual references, you might be shocked at how much your skin crawls. Looking at items with repetitive holes like honeycombs and seed pods cause certain people to experience a variety of symptoms, including disgust, anxiety, vomiting, and distress. If the following picture makes you feel nervous, you too might feel triggered by the new phone.

a honeycomb that can cause people trypophobia

People Tweet About Their Anxiety From The New iPhone

While it may sound comical, it is actually a very serious condition. As the triple camera does create a creepy hole-filled void, many people took to Twitter to share their disgust and discomfort with the new iPhone’s camera appearance.

keep your nasty iphone cameras away from me @Apple #trypophobia pic.twitter.com/XFZmu2sv3p
— jennyduloc (@jennyduloc) September 10, 2019

The #iphone11 needs a trypophobia trigger warning pic.twitter.com/3Q80yfpd5Q
— Steven Greenstreet ❌ (@MiddleOfMayhem) September 10, 2019

coming soon: #iphone 15 – It's All Cameras!™ #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/Iit2p7XnVR
— Amy ??? (@starboots_) September 10, 2019

Viewing the new iPhone 11 Pro design is incredibly unnerving for people who have trypophobia, causing various physical and emotional responses. Which leads to the question, how do people get anxiety from looking at these images?

The Origins Of Trypophobia

It is believed that 18% of women and 11% of men in the adult population globally have symptoms of trypophobia, potentially deriving from survivalism. Specifically, researchers at the University of Essex say this phobia “arises in part because the inducing stimuli share basic visual characteristics with those of dangerous organisms.”

Given the considerable chunk of the population affected by this phobia, it could mean a drop in sales for Apple (or maybe people will spend less time on the screen?) Nevertheless, Apple has yet to respond to the public concerns about the anxiety induced by the design.

Photos: Unsplash, Twitter: @BenGeskin ,

Drinking 2 Sodas A Day Might Lead To Your Death

It’s no surprise that sodas are not considered a healthy beverage. With lots sugar (or artificial chemicals), soda can cause weight gain, tooth decay, and numerous other issues. If these health risks were not enough to make you put down the bubbly beverage, the latest study from “Journal of the American Medical Association” will. Researchers found that drinking just two sodas a day can be linked to a higher chance of death. Yes, DEATH.

A Substantial Study On Sodas

This was not some small study with only a few participants. 451,743 healthy individuals from different European countries participated in the study, all of whom gave information over the course of almost a decade, from 1992-2000. The participants were asked to report their consumption of soda, and researchers paired that information with the mortality rates from 11 to 19 years after.

Conclusive Evidence

For all those who regularly consume soda, the unsettling news might shock you. Researchers found those who consumed two sugary drinks or more a day had much higher mortality rates than those who only drank one soda a month. Additionally, the heavy soda drinkers were on average 2 years younger than their fellow one-a-month participants, giving rise to the clear correlation between soda and fatal health risks.

Different Causes Of Death For Diet Vs. Regular Soda

One of the most interesting findings from the study was that the cause of early death for diet soda drinkers was different from the early mortality of regular soda. Those who drank diet sodas with artificial sweeteners typically died of diseases related to the circulatory system. Regular soda drinkers more often died from diseases linked to the liver and intestines.

While more information and research is needed on the effects of artificial sweeteners, it is safe to say you are much better off skipping the soda at your next meal.

Photos: Freepik, Unsplash

The Best Time To Drink Coffee Is Not In The Morning

If you feel like you can’t fully start your day until you’ve swigged down a cup of coffee, you’re not alone. According to one survey, over 60% of Americans consume coffee daily. No wonder big coffee chains like Starbucks do so well nationally (and internationally). For the majority of coffee consumers, the standard time to drink a cup of joe is in the morning. However, a recent study found that this isn’t actually the best time to be sipping on the caffeinated beverage…

woman drinking a cup of coffee in. the morning.

Reasons To Avoid The Morning Mug Of Joe

While most of us rely on caffeine first thing in the morning to wake us up, in reality there are many more health perks to coffee that we are not benefiting from simply based on the time of consumption. Scientific studies revealed that the health advantages are best when the body has low levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. This is because when caffeine is mixed with cortisol, the body responds negatively, causing fatigue, poor sleep and other health risks.

coffee with beans shaped in a heart beat.

Your body naturally throughout the day has a pattern of higher and lower levels of cortisol. For each person this pattern is different, and depends on your circadian rhythm and the time you wake up. For example, people who wake up at 6:30am typically has peak cortisol around 8:30am, 12:30pm, and 5pm, meaning they should avoid consuming coffee at these times. Additionally, it is advisable for everyone to not drink the beverage right when you wake up, because that’s when hormones start being active.

The Best Time For Coffee Consumption

While each person has their own circadian rhythm, which can be calculated online, the best “catch-all” time for coffee consumption is mid-morning or early afternoon. This is typically when cortisol levels are lowest, and you can better benefit both from the caffeine stimulation and other health perks.

What Are The Other Health Perks Of Coffee?

Given its vast consumption and popularity, coffee has been the source of many scientific investigations. While too much caffeine can lead to negative side effects for some people, drinking 1-2 cups a day has been found to help reduce the chances of getting cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Time to get the most out of your mug and sip up!

Photos: Pixabay, Freepik

Adopt A Rescue Dog Through A “Dating App”

Dating Apps have grown increasingly popular over the years, and with them has grown an influx of themed versions. No longer are there apps of just a photo with a mini bio. You can now search apps for people based on religious views, music preferences, and even your shared hatred of things! That said, we think the best “dating app” out there isn’t for finding your soulmate, but rather for your best furry friend. “How I Met My Dog” is the app to find your perfect– you guessed it- loving rescue pooch!

How The App Works

The app “How I Met My Dog” works like several dating apps by having you create a profile first through a detailed questionnaire. The questions ask about your living situation, as well as how you imagine yourself as a pet owner. It also asks your preferences, such as size and gender of the dog. After filling out the survey, the app matches you with different dogs in your area that fulfill your needs. You’ll wish you could “swipe right” and “match” with them all!

Rescue Dogs Only

The best part about this dog-finding service, is that all the dogs available to adopt are rescue! These adorable pooches are a range of ages and simply hoping for their forever home. If you are thinking about getting a rescue dog, but don’t feel ready yet to make the commitment, you can still create a profile. There is no obligation for signing up to adopt on the spot, and you can even create a search if you are “just looking.”

Perfectly Paired

Regardless, the ultimate goal of this website is to find the perfect pairing. While dating apps are known to have their serious flaws (catfish, anyone?), “How I Met Your Dog” is an honest site that provides photos and a background of each of the dogs listed in your matches. Who needs a partner when you can find your new furry best friend instead!

Photos: Freepik, Pixabay