🫘 Eat more fiber — it's good for you

💁‍♀️ Plus: Your most petty social Qs, answered

View this email online This week’s newsletter is brought to you by Life Kit producer Clare Marie Schneider   Tanja Ivanova/Getty Images Can you name three foods high in fiber?  NPR health correspondent Maria Godoy shares a whole shopping list of fiber-rich foods in her latest episode for Life Kit, which explains the many health benefits of fiber.  She mentioned some high-fiber foods that were familiar to me, like beans, oats and kale — and foods I didn’t know about, like artichokes, chia seeds and raspberries. Just a tablespoon of chia seeds sprinkled over your morning yogurt or granola offers up 4 grams of fiber.  Read the story now It’s good to know about these foods because fiber is so good for your health. It keeps you regular. It helps control blood sugar levels, lowers cholesterol and reduces inflammation. In fact, one review of 185 studies and of dozens of clinical trials found that diets rich in fiber were linked to a lower risk of major health problems, including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. But Americans aren't eating enough of this stuff. According to the U.S. government's dietary guidelines, you should eat 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you take in daily. But only around 9% of women and 3% of men in the U.S. meet the fiber recommendations.   Here’s how to add more fiber in your diet Kaz Fantone/NPR 🥑 Get your fiber from plant-based foods. That means eating different kinds of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts. Think sweet potatoes, avocados, pears, asparagus, barley and oats, lentils and pumpkin seeds. Not only are these foods a good source of fiber, but they also contain other vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that promote good health. Experts say supplements can be helpful, but they shouldn't be your primary source of fiber. (If you take fiber supplements, check with your doctor to ensure they don't interfere with any medications you take.) 🍿 Give your meals a boost. Adding more fiber into your daily habits doesn't have to be hard. Some surprisingly snackable foods are high in fiber, like avocados. Add slices to a sandwich, or grab a side of guac with your tacos. Munch on some air-popped popcorn (nearly 6 grams of fiber in 3 cups). Top off oatmeal or salads with walnuts or almonds. Or throw a cup of cooked kale, which has about 4 grams of fiber, into a lentil soup for a fiber-full meal.   🐥 Take baby steps. If you don't eat a lot of fiber, the key is to start slowly. That's because high-fiber diets can cause gas and bloating in some people. The gas is a byproduct of the fermentation of fiber by the microbes in your gut. You want to gradually increase your fiber intake to give your gastrointestinal tract time to adjust. For example, if you like to eat white bread, try swapping out one serving per week with whole-grain bread. In the second week, eat two servings. Keep doing that until you've swapped all your servings of white bread to whole grain.   Get more tips on how to boost your fiber intake here More Life Kit episodes on diet and your gut Sarah Oh for NPR What to do when you're constipated. If you haven’t pooped in days, you might feel desperate for a healthy bowel movement. Here’s a step-by-step guide for that SOS moment, including when to use a laxative and if toilet stools really help. Read the article here. How to manage IBS symptoms. More than 25 million Americans have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. While IBS symptoms present in the gut, it turns out that stress and anxiety can actually exacerbate symptoms. Here's how to identify triggers for IBS, eat a diet that decreases gas and bloating — and learn where to seek help. Listen to the episode here. Busting 5 common myths about water and hydration. Do you really need to drink eight glasses of water a day? Can drinking water help you lose weight? Does coffee dehydrate you? Experts explain the science of hydration. Read the article here.   Newsletter continues after sponsor message Listen Sponsor-Free Support public media while getting expert advice on health, finance, relationships and more with Life Kit+. You'll get sponsor-free listening AND that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with making a difference. You can also check out loads of other NPR+ podcasts with benefits at plus.npr.org. Explore Life Kit+ We asked, you answered     MIXA/Getty Images Last week, we asked our audience: What’s a recent book you read that you couldn’t put down? The question was a follow up to our episode on how to find a book you’ll actually want to finish. Here are a few of the titles you loved. These responses have been edited for length and clarity.    I loved Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. It combined mystery with family dynamics, gender identity, trauma and legal drama while two narrators told their stories from different perspectives. —Jennifer Burns  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. As a reader who prefers nonfiction, it takes a special piece of fiction to grab me in the beginning and pull me along to the end. This book will continue to be on the top shelf of my many books. —Nancy Guy Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea. It’s a gorgeous, moving and thoroughly exciting read. —Sandy Werner All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. I gave a copy to my 16-year-old son and he couldn't put it down, either! Fabulous read. —Amy McKeever We want to hear from you We know this is kind of like putting a Christmas tree up before Halloween, but we’re starting to think about New Year’s resolutions. What are your goals for 2024? How do you hope to improve your life — in what ways? Email us at lifekit@npr.org with your thoughts and Life Kit may use some of your ideas to help inform our plans for the New Year.    This week on Life Kit Clockwise from top left: Bloomberg via Getty Images, Schon/Getty Images, Jackyenjoyphotography/Getty Images, Juan Algar/Getty Images; Collage by Kaz Fantone 6 big purchases that can save energy and money at home (plus budget-friendly options) To live a more climate friendly life, invest in home appliances and vehicles that run on electricity, not fossil fuels, say sustainability experts. Here are a few energy-saving solutions to consider. Read the story and listen to the episode here.       HUIZENG HU/Getty Images The new rules of laundry Patric Richardson, host of "The Laundry Guy" on HGTV, wants you to change the way you wash your clothes. Don't think of it as a chore — and don't be afraid to put those “dry cleaning only” garments in the washer. Listen to the episode here.   Photographs by Bansah Photography/Unsplash; Sippakorn Yamkasikorn/Unsplash; Daniel Sinoca/Unsplash; Dmitry Mashkin/Unsplash; Collage by Kaz Fantone/NPR Dear Life Kit: Your most petty social dilemmas, answered Lunch snubs, bad neighbors and needy in-laws. Advice columnist R. Eric Thomas responds to the bad behavior getting under your skin. Read the story here.   Photographs by brooklyngrace/Unsplash; Sindy Süßengut/Unsplash; Collage by Kaz Fantone/NPR What to know if you're exploring non-monogamy When we think about romance, many of us have a specific script in mind. Two people date, fall in love and get married. But that traditional path doesn't work for everyone. This episode explores the world beyond monogamy, whether you're starting this journey solo or already partnered. Listen to the episode here. Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: LifeKit@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Daily News, Code Switch, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Life Kit emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy

I Love...

... reminiscing about a past I never experienced

View this email online by Aisha Harris Hey what’s up hello. It was the week Taylor Swift got really into football. It was the week Netflix bid farewell to those red envelopes. And it was the week the WGA and the AMPTP finally landed on a pretty impressive deal for Hollywood writers. Opening Argument Recently someone tweeted a photo collage of Gen-X comedians whose faces would be instantly and fondly recalled by any millennial who had access to VH1 in the ’00s. The accompanying text was straight-to-the-point, and pure: “I miss the I Love… series!!! #throwback #VH1” VH1’s I Love… series, for the unfortunate souls who never experienced the pleasures of its company during an hours-long marathon on a Saturday afternoon, was a wacky lo-fi clip show that good-naturedly mocked pop culture from the past. Inspired by a BBC series, the American iteration premiered in 2002 with a retrospective on the ’80s, followed by the ’70s, ’90s, and various offshoots. As that tweet reminiscing about the good ol’ days of I Love… made the rounds amongst us wistful 30- and 40-somethings, the responses fell largely into two camps: Those who proudly admitted to once aspiring to fill the role of “deadpan commentator on a nostalgic clip show” (i.e., Michael Ian Black, truly the MVP), and those who used it to point out the unique role the series played in teaching us millennials about some show called The Waltons and the pet rock craze. There’s something to that latter observation. Alongside retro cable programming like Nick at Nite and docuseries like Behind the Music, I Love… helped many of us cultivate a superficial sense of what it was like to exist in the times before we were born. It was about as unserious and ostensibly slap-dash of an enterprise as it could get. There were cheesy recurring gags (“The Foxy Ladies of [insert year here],” as voted on by an invisible committee of VH1, for one). There was, for whatever reason, a chimpanzee. The overall aesthetic screamed “mid-’90s screensaver.” Ken Burns this was not: Each episode moved at rapid-fire pace between subjects and observations, barely scratching the surface of any one cultural artifact or thought. An assortment of character actors, B- and C-list standup comedians, and musicians provided the silly commentary. Most of it boiled down to, “Remember this ridiculous thing we all enjoyed back then? Wasn’t that … ridiculous???” *wink wink* But the chaos and simplicity of its presentation was the draw, and the draw may have helped bridge some kind of generational gap. It lodged random old-school facts into our brains so that we may wield them decades later during bar trivia, wowing Gen-Xers who are surprised that someone as young as us would remember Small Wonder. (We don’t; but we do remember Juliette Lewis remembering the 10-year-old robot girl on I Love the ’80s: 1985.) It may have made the most curious among us seek out some of the music, shows and movies that got namechecked on the series. In a way, Twitter can sometimes function as I Love… once did, but without the structure and ease of access. For some time now, it’s been the millennial generation’s turn to sit on chairs in front of ugly green screens and wax poetic about the silly pleasures of “The Thong Song,” and we do (online, sans green screens), but it can seem like the culture isn’t being passed down as effectively. Regularly, the 30+ crowd on the internet finds itself rolling its eyes at the (presumably) Gen Z set for, say, being confused by seeing Childish Gambino in a classroom among a bunch of students who “look 30 years old.” (It’s a still from Community, and Chevy Chase must be delighted that anyone thinks he looks 30 years old.) It’s natural to be an old(er) person worrying about the preservation of the past for the future, and that too many people, regardless of age, have little historical context for the now. There are real conversations to be had about how art like early hip-hop or classic cinema are in danger of being forgotten; thank goodness for the dream hamptons and Martin Scorseses of the world. But perhaps this tiny corner of the internet isn’t telling the whole story. Alanis Morissette’s influence is all over Olivia Rodrigo, and one of the sweetest viral trends of the last few years involved two young brothers listening to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” for the first time, so #notallGenZ, etc. Maybe there aren’t necessarily fewer ways to engage with the past, just different ways, like YouTube, podcasts, Stranger Things, and, of course, TikTok. Some of those engagements can be just as silly and surface-level as I Love…, and there’s certainly a world where an updated version of the series returns and thrives in the short attention-span realm of social media. And perhaps it’s also possible millennials’ cultural literacy is being just a tad bit overstated – or at least, sugarcoated – in the discourse around things like I Love … There are so many other factors beyond age determining what we know and have been exposed to: race, nationality, hometown, whether or not your parents were immigrants, how old your parents were when you were born, and so on. Until last week, I’d barely registered that The Talking Heads are the ones who performed “Psycho Killer.” Did Mo Rocca crack jokes about it on VH1? Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend I’ve not caught up with the just-dropped series finale of Reservation Dogs yet (I’ve heard it’s great) because I only just started binging the show last month and am currently three episodes behind. I love it dearly, but I’m kicking myself for taking so long. If, like me, you’ve “been meaning to” check it out but haven’t, just do it. You will not be disappointed. This career-spanning conversation with Todd Haynes is a treat for any fan of his work. (There’s a charming anecdote where he recalls thinking it was “Where far out thou Romeo?” because he grew up around LA hippies in the ’60s.) I’ve had Kaytraminé, the uber-catchy collaborative album from producer Kaytranada and rapper Aminé, on regular rotation all summer, and as fall rolls around it remains, allowing me to hold onto the summery grooves a bit longer. Listen to the Podcast Sponsor-Free Support your favorite pop culture junkies AND listen without sponsor interruptions with a subscription to Pop Culture Happy Hour+! Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org/happy. Learn More What We Did This Week Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor in Fair Play. Sergej Radovic/Netflix I chatted with Stephen and Wailin Wong about the Game Stop short squeeze movie Dumb Money, and then promptly forgot (for the umpteenth time) what a short squeeze is. Glen got in the ring with Isabella Gomez Sarmiento and Reanna Cruz to discuss the gay luchador biopic Cassandro. I gushed with Glen and Felix Contreras over the 40th anniversary release of Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense. Stephen and Glen discussed Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi action movie The Creator with Marc Rivers and Roxana Hadadi. And I reviewed Fair Play, a gripping domestic/workplace melodrama about a couple upended by a hedge fund promotion. What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: Roxana Hadadi: John Grisham novels, including the forthcoming The Exchange Marc Rivers: The Ringer podcast Do We Get To Win This Time? Glen Weldon: Deadloch, on Prime Video Stephen Thompson: Bury the Lede, by Dessa Amazon supports NPR and pays to distribute some of our content Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free episodes. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! 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