The Surprising Science of the Carnivore Diet

If you’re skeptical about an all-meat diet, you’re not alone. In fact, Dr. Nicholas Norwitz, a researcher and metabolic health educator with a Harvard medical degree, was skeptical as well. Everything he had been taught and all his medical training suggested that it couldn’t possibly make sense. No plant material whatsoever? Just meat, eggs, and fish? No fiber? It seemed radical, but he kept hearing about people with a variety of conditions that were in remission after following the carnivore diet. There was only one way to make a determination about the diet, and that was to go on it himself. The elephant in the room was meat. For a long time, meat has been vilified for being rich in saturated fat and cholesterol, which are bad for your heart. So, is a carnivore diet inevitably bad for cardiovascular health? Will it accelerate plaque buildup and have you dropping head of a heart attack? The answer is no. Saturated fat can raise cholesterol, but that alone doesn’t translate into higher cardiovascular risk when the fat comes from whole foods. So who is the carnivore diet for? It makes the most sense for people with gut conditions like irritable bowel syndrome and for those with autoimmune disease. It makes the least sense for people who are already healthy and thriving on their current diet. Perhaps it’s not the right tool for many people, but for some it’s exactly the right tool.

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How Long Can You Leave Wet Laundry Before You Need to Rewash It?

If you’re like most people, there has been at least one time when you’ve forgotten to transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer. You may be wondering how long you can leave laundry in the washer before you need to rewash it. The simple answer is 12 hours. Heavy items, hot or humid summer conditions, and moisture-trapping front-load washers can reduce that window by at least 4 hours. Washing with hot water, bleach and even scent boosters might sound like it will buy you a little extra time, but nothing beats moving your laundry to the dryer promptly. If you happen to leave it long enough to have that sour scent and a re-wash is a must, make sure you put a cup of white vinegar in with your laundry detergent. That will ensure that the sour smell is removed completely.

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Downsizing Experts Say These Are the Most Useless Things You’re Probably Holding Onto

While most people don’t set out to live in a cluttered home, when our houses are filled with things we don’t use, it can over-complicate many aspects of our day-to-day lives. Clutter happens because most of us unintentionally hold on to stuff we no longer need. Clutter isn’t really a storage problem, it’s a decision-making problem. Every item in your home is something you had to decide to keep, and most of us never think to revisit that decision, so we just default to keeping things. Downsizing is the key — reducing your household inventory until the amount you own is actually manageable for the life you live. It doesn’t mean moving to a smaller home or trying to own as little as possible. When we keep less, we’re just not creating physical space, we’re freeing up time, energy and attention for the things we actually want to be doing. So where do you start? Here is a list of things organization experts say should go:

• • Excess (or duplicate) kitchen utensils and gadgets
• • Expired (or unused) spices, supplements, and pantry items
• • Water bottles and food storage containers
• • “Someday” fitness equipment and wellness items

Along with decluttering, you also want to make sure you don’t revert to the habit. Here are the things you should ask yourself before you buy:

• • Have I thought about it for at least 2 weeks?
• • Does it solve a genuine problem?
• • Do I already own something similar?
• • Is buying it worth giving up progress toward my next financial goal?
• • Where will it be in 5 years?
• • Do I have a place in mind to put it?
• • How long will I have to work in order to pay for it?
• • Can I be productive and happy without it?
• • What’s the cost of it per use?
• • Does it support my priorities?
• • Is this the best way for me to obtain it?
• • Is it a high-quality item with a reasonable price tag?
• • What’s my current mental state — Stress and boredom can all influence what feels necessary at the moment.
• • What’s the real reason I’m considering buying it? 

Once you’ve conquered these items, you’re ready to downsize. Try using the “Post-It” method and give yourself one week. Pick any room to start and put a Post-It note on each item in the room. If you use an item in that room within one week, remove the Post-It note. At the end of one week, anything with a Post-It note should go through a more conscious deliberation.

 

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Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs

Chicken thighs are affordable, forgiving, and especially well suited to baking. While they’re easy to make, getting juicy meat and crispy skin requires the right approach. For this baked chicken thigh recipe, you only need two things: an overnight dry brine that seasons the meat throughout and helps dry the skin, and a hot oven to finish the job. The result is juicy, well-seasoned chicken beneath beautifully crisp, golden skin.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 1¼ tsp salt

• 1¼ tsp paprika

• 1 tsp ground sage (or 1½ ts dried sage leaves)

• ½ tsp dried thyme

• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

• ½ teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed of excess skin

Directions:

• • In a small bowl, mix the salt, paprika, sage, thyme, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder until evenly combined.
• • Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels.
• • Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over both sides of the chicken and arrange skin-side up on a wire rack set over a foil-lined baking sheet.
• • Refrigerate uncovered for at least 12 hours, or up to 24 hours.  

Note: You will smell the savory brine when you open the refrigerator, which is normal. The chicken needs to stay uncovered so the skin can dry out.

• • Preheat oven to 425º F and set the oven rack in the middle position.
• • Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. If the skin browns faster than the meat cooks, loosely tent the chicken with foil.
• • Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.

 

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