The Well-Being UNC-Chapel Hill’s Premiere Health and Fitness Magazine Volume 5 Edition 1
Birth Control: Choosing the Right Method for You
Orthorexia Nervosa Recipes
Why Do You Eat?
Cocoa Pancakes | Pumpkin Lentil Soup Honey Roasted Cinnamon Chickpeas
LETTER & CONTENTS
VOL. 5 ED. 1
Letter from the Editors Emily Gregoire is a junior graphic design and business administration double major in the School of Media and Journalism and the Kenan-Flagler Business School. Emily has been a graphic designer for the magazine since her freshman year and became managing editor her sophomore year. She loves art, reading, and being outside. Emily Gregoire Managing Editor
Rachel Herzog Content Editor
Courtney Jacobs Advertising Director
2 The Well-Being December 2015
Rachel Herzog is a junior studying journalism and Spanish at UNC and hopes to have a career as a reporter one day. When she isn’t writing or studying, she’s running somewhere in the woods or re-watching The Office. Courtney Jacobs is a junior advertising and media production double major in the School of Media and Journalism and the College of Arts and Sciences. She has been designing and writing since her first-year and became social media editor her sophomore year. She loves eating, watching movies, and live music.
Facebook: The Well-Being Health and Fitness Magazine Twitter: @UNCWellBeing | Email: TWBMag@gmail.com
Table of Contents
4........Recipes
Do you have a great idea for an article?
6........Quick Measurements
Is your organization
hosting a health- or fitness-related
7........Tips for Staying Sane During
next semester? Send
Finals Week
us a tweet, email, or
8........Social Media and FOMO
11.....Orthorexia Nervosa 13.....Birth Control: Choosing the Right Method for You
The Staff
{
message.
We are always looking
for content for our magazine and website.
Interested in joining our staff? Let us know
16.....Why do you eat? Writers Cody Hayslette Stephanie DeFazio Miriam Antelis
event
that too! Designers Emily Gregoire Cody Hayslette
Treasurer Anna Tang
This semester has been a new beginning for the Well-Being. Many of our staff members were new to the magazine and to journalistic writing in general. Nevertheless, they stepped up with excellent ideas, stories and designs for this issue.
Stephanie DeFazio uncovers the truth behind orthorexia nervosa, an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating, on page 11
We’d like to thank our advisor Megan Fulton, the UNC community, the Student Life organization, and caffeine for helping us make this issue happen.
Miriam Antelis explores the different kinds of birth control that are out there on page 9
Make some tasty, healthy food with the recipes on page 4
Cody Hayslette explores the benefits of intermittent fasting on page 16
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RECIPES
VOL. 5 ED. 1
Cocoa Pancakes Combine 2/3 cup spelt flour, 8 tsp. cocoa powder, 2 tbsp. chia seeds and vegan chocolate chips (if desired). Mix until the chia seeds are evenly distributed. Add 2 tsp. maple syrup, 2 tbsp. pea butter, and ½ tsp. vanilla extract and stir. Pour in 1.5 cups of almond milk and stir until everything is thoroughly mixed. Wait a few minutes so the chia seeds can thicken the batter, then stir a bit more. Pour small amounts of batter on a griddle to cook. Top the pancakes with fruit.
Pumpkin Lentil Soup 2 large onions ½ cup lentils, washed/drained 1 can cooked pumpkin 1/8 tsp. thyme 1 can evaporated milk ½ cup butter 6 cups chicken broth 1/8 tsp. majoram ¼ tsp. salt and pepper Dash of Tobasco
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Saute onions in butter. Add lentils, chicken broth, unsweetened pumpkin, herbs and spices. Cook 1½ hours or until lentils are cooked. Add evaporated milk.
Honey-Roasted Cinnamon Chickpeas By Modern Parents Messy Kids
15-ounce can garbanzo beans 1/2 tbsp. olive oil 1 tbsp. honey 1/8 tsp. nutmeg 1/8 tsp. sea salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Dry them off on a towel. Spread chickpeas evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until crispy. Toss hot chickpeas in a bowl with the oil, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Enjoy as is, or put them back in the oven for 10 more minutes for a caramelized flavor. Store in an airtight container.
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RECIPES
VOL. 5 ED. 1
Tips for Staying Sane During Finals Week
Quick Guide:
Estimating Food Measurements
1 cup
3 oz. meat 1-2 oz. nuts
1 teaspoon
1 tablespoon
1 inch 1 oz. meat or cheese
6 The Well-Being December 2015
By Miriam Antelis
The end of the semester is right around the corner and only finals stand between you and a month-long Netflix binge. Before you go home and enjoy uninterrupted downtime, you have to get through a stress-filled week of endless studying and the occasional mental breakdown. To help you get through finals week, here are a few tips to help you stay sane and healthy.
Break It Down It’s natural to stress over the quantity of material you have to study, but worrying about all of your finals all at once will only leave you feeling overwhelmed. To combat this, divide study time into manageable increments. Before you begin your study session, break down the material you need to study into 30-45 minute chunks. Focus only on the material you’ve scheduled yourself to study at that time. After each allotted block of study time, take a short break to clear your mind. During this time, get up to walk around, take a deep breath, listen to your favorite song or watch a funny YouTube video before you continue studying. Put Your Phone Away Our lives pretty much
revolve around our phones, but this can prove to be a distraction during study time. Do your best to keep your phone out of arms reach for the chunks of time you’ve scheduled for studying. If you can’t go without your phone for hours at a time, reward yourself a few minutes of scrolling through Facebook or Twitter after each block of study time.
Get some sleep As a college student, you probably can’t remember the last time you got a good night’s sleep. Although it may seem counterintuitive, try to make it a point to get more than six hours of sleep per night between now and finals. According to a 2013 NIH study, sleep helps with reasoning, problem-solving and attention to detail, among other things. The study also showed that sleep flushes out toxins that build up throughout the day, helping to restore the brain. In other words, study by day, sleep by night.
Exercise Apart from the physical benefits of exercise, working out also helps boost your mood. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regular physical activity can reduce the risk of
depression and help you sleep better. Exercise also helps keep thinking and learning skills sharp. Adults between the ages of 18-64 require about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and muscle strengthening activities at least two days a week. If a full workout seems daunting or too time-consuming, you can even split up your workouts into 10-minute increments throughout the day.
Take a Deep Breath When it feels like the stress of finals is too much to handle, spend a minute taking slow, deep, even breaths and block out everything else to focus on your breathing. Many times, fighting the anxiety you feel over finals only makes you more aware of it. Acknowledge that you are feeling anxious, but remember the following things and repeat them to yourself as you’re breathing. - Your grades do not define you. - You’ve survived finals before, you can do it again. More likely than not, the thoughts you are having are “default” thoughts. Don’t let your mind make situations seem worse than they actually are. You can handle this! www.twbmag.org 7
EMOTIONAL HEALTH
I
VOL. 5 ED. 1
f you have ever found yourself sitting alone in your room scrolling through picture after picture of someone else’s weekend, feeling an unlikely combination of intrigue and loneliness, you are far from alone. In fact, many college students have a complicated relationship with social media. While it can be enjoyable and entertaining to scroll through the photos and status updates of friends and family, constantly exposing oneself to evidence of the good times other people are having can cause one to seriously doubt the quality of their own life. This can make checking up on social media, which is commonly an activity done multiple times throughout the day, turn into a negative, stressful experience. This recent phenomenon has been coined FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out. It is so common that it has even been added to the Oxford English Dictionary, where it is defined as “anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening
By Stephanie DeFazio
8 The Well-Being December 2015
elsewhere, often aroused “[FOMO] has a very real by posts potential to be the root seen on a cause of some serious social media damage concerning one’s website.” social interactions and While often mental health” brushed off as a term exclusively used in the fear of missing out. popular culture, the In an empirical concept of FOMO, which investigation carried is “characterized by the out by Przybylski, desire to stay continually studies were done that connected with what provided some insight others are doing” has into the fear of missing a very real potential out. Namely, higher to be the root cause of levels of FOMO were some serious damage reported by “individuals concerning one’s social who evidenced less interactions and mental satisfaction of the basic health, according to psychological needs for Andrew Przybylski of competence (efficacy), the University of Essex. autonomy (meaningful In one respect, social choice), and relatedness media provides valuable (connectedness to opportunities to connect others).” Essentially, with friends and family individuals who are not and to stay up to date on entirely pleased with experiences and events and feel little meaning of interest. However, due in the direction their life to the infinite amounts of is going in tend to more information being shared, commonly feel the effects one individual does not of FOMO. As a result, have the capacity to it seems that collegetake advantage of it all. aged individuals, who According to Przybylski, typically do not have their this gives social media a lives completely figured “double-edged quality” out, are more prone to and often results in experiencing FOMO. It individuals suffering from was also discovered that
“Higher levels of FOMO were reported by ‘individuals who evidenced less satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for competence (efficacy), autonomy (meaningful choice), and relatedness (connectedness to others).’” www.twbmag.org 9
EMOTIONAL HEALTH share on social media. After “Individuals who are all, “people not completely satisfied who post their with their lives tend seek activities on out social media more social media frequently, which often sites skim has the effect of making their life and them feel even less select the satisfied.” incandescent moments,” says “FOMO was negatively Larry Dossey, executive associated with both editor of Explore, a science general mood and and healing journal. It overall life satisfaction.” may appear that the These findings seem people on your friends to suggest that FOMO list are constantly having is a phenomenon that a great time partying and is closely tied to one’s going on adventures, but existing psychological it is important to keep and mental states. Those in mind that no one is individuals who are not going to share photos completely satisfied with of that time they spent their lives tend seek their Friday night all out social media more alone in sweatpants in frequently, which often front of the TV, or that has the effect of making time they were stuck in them feel even less the library all weekend satisfied. Thus, a vicious studying. While it is cycle presents itself. unrealistic to recommend So the next time you abstaining from social find yourself longingly media use completely, it is scrolling through your important to keep things Instagram feed, or in perspective when you checking up on your ex on experience that all-tooFacebook, remember that familiar pang of anxiety the vibrant social lives that you are missing that people seem to lead out on all of the fun, or are very much dependent that other people have on what one chooses to “It is important to keep in mind that no one is going to share photos of that time they spent their Friday night all alone”
10 The Well-Being December 2015
VOL. 5 ED. 1 much more interesting lives than you do. More likely than not, the very same people that you feel envious of also experience moments where they feel like their lives do not stack up to the lives of others.
F O M O Fear
of
Missing
Out
Orthorexia nervosa:
The point where healthy eating becomes a dangerous obsession
N
By Stephanie DeFazio
o w a d a y s , everyone knows that cultivating a healthy diet is something worth striving for. The constant stream of news articles, television specials, magazine covers, and web pages dedicated to informing people and giving them tips for healthy eating makes the sentiment hard to overlook. While this push towards health and accountability appears to be exactly what obesityridden America needs,
there is a downside to this overwhelming flood of information. Some individuals take the media’s encouraging messages to an extreme, transforming these good intentions to an unhealthy obsession with eating healthfully. This phenomenon has been coined “orthorexia nervosa,” defined by Karin Kratina from NationalEatingDisorders. org as a “fixation on righteous eating.” While orthorexia nervosa has yet to be recognized as
meeting the criteria for an eating disorder, the resemblance is uncanny. Sufferers of orthorexia face issues in multiple realms, including physical, psychological, and social. According to Dr. Steven Bratman, who coined the term, the condition goes far beyond a desire to live a healthful life through food choice, but is “an obsession with healthy food that involves other emotional factors and has become psychologically and perhaps even physically www.twbmag.org 11
PHYSICAL HEALTH unhealthy.” Physically, an individual who zeros in on any particular diet runs the risk of becoming malnourished, according to Bratman. According to Kratina, orthorexia is characterized by an “iron-clad will” to strictly adhere to a diet that is perceived to be healthful, and any deviation from this eating plan is not an option. Therefore, if a nutrient is neglected in the established diet, it is most likely going to be left out for good. The dangers of orthorexia are not limited to the physical, however. According to Kratina, the healthy-eating obsession can hurt relationships and isolate the individual from other activities and interests. When a healthful diet defines a person’s identity, self-
VOL. 5 ED. 1
“
esteem can become The healthyfragile and completely dependent on daily eating obsession can food choices; activities hurt relationships that were once and isolate the enjoyed can be pushed individual from aside to leave more time and energy to other activities and fuel the obsession; and interests relationships can be tarnished due to selfinflicted isolation and where perfection is the Whether it be feelings of superiority. goal. Overall, taking healthy in respect to exercise, eating to such extremes academic performance, has a negative effect on or something else entirely, a complete fixation on one’s overall well-being. While the typical getting every aspect of college student does not something just right can suffer from full-fledged be dangerous to one’s orthorexia nervosa, health. Believe it or not, perhaps its implications it is ok to slip up on your can serve as an example diet plan or exercise of how seemingly healthy routine or study schedule behaviors can be taken and still maintain a too far. Perhaps bringing healthy and successful to attention the dangers of lifestyle. As worn out an obsession with healthy as this old sentiment eating can be applied seems to be, “everything to other situations in in moderation” is most certainly key.
12 The Well-Being December 2015
”
Birth Control:
Choosing the Right Method for You By Miriam Antelis
C
hoosing the right birth control can be a daunting task (There are so many options!), but it is undoubtedly an important one. We commonly hear about “the pill,” but it’s important to know what else is out there and how contraceptives work before making a final decision. Alarmingly, misconceptions and lack of knowledge about birth control and safe sex continue to be an issue. “Compliance and its relationship to efficacy is a common misconception,” said Jennifer Baker, a registered nurse in the Women’s
Health division at Campus Health Services, in an email. “Birth control must be used consistently and correctly to achieve maximal efficacy,” says Baker. “The onus is with the woman to comply with instructions.” She also says there are often misconceptions about which products prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. To make your research and decision-process quicker and easier, I have compiled the most important information needed to choose the right birth control for you. www.twbmag.org 13
PHYSICAL HEALTH Types of Birth Control While permanent contraceptive methods (i.e. getting your tubes tied) and long-term invasive methods (i.e. IUD insertion) are an option, it may be best to stick to hormonal contraceptive if it is your first time seeking contraception. That way, you have the option of stopping or switching treatments. Below is a list of hormonal birth control methods in order from most effective to least effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. *Even if you’re on birth control, a condom should still be used to lower the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
VOL. 5 ED. 1 Cons: Some people do not like getting shots, it can lead to irregular menstrual periods and requires a visit to the doctor every three months to get the shot. Additionally, taking the shot for more than two years at a time can lead to a loss in bone density and can increase the risk of fracture or osteoporosis if used for an extended period of time. Oral Contraceptives (The Pill) The pill contains the hormones estrogen and progestin, which prevent the ovaries from releasing eggs and keep the sperm and the egg from uniting.
“
There may be physiologic reasons for a provider to recommend one cycle over the other so it is important to talk to your doctor
Depo-Provera (The Shot) This method involves an injection of progestin—a hormone which thickens the cervical mucus and thins the lining of the uterus to prevent the sperm and the egg from The pill is taken daily uniting—in the buttocks and there are many types, or arm every three so talk to your doctor to months. The shot also determine which one is prevents the ovaries from best for you. releasing eggs. With the pill, you Effectiveness: Six have the option of unintended pregnancies choosing continuous use per 100 women in a year. or the extended cycle, Pros: It is discrete and depending on whether each injection lasts for you prefer to get your three months. period or not. According 14 The Well-Being December 2015
”
to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the continuous cycle consists of a woman taking an active pill (with hormones) every day to prevent her period. The extended cycle consists of 12 weeks of active pills followed by one week of inactive pills (without hormones), meaning that the woman gets her period three or four times a year. Baker says there may be physiologic reasons for a provider to recommend one cycle over the other, so it is important to talk to your doctor about what works best for your body. Effectiveness: Nine unintended pregnancies per 100 women in a year. Pros: There are many different kinds to choose from, which allows you to pick the one you are most comfortable with and it is an easy-to-use method! Cons: Some people are not comfortable swallowing pills and it can be hard to remember to take it at the same time each day. Also, antibiotics may reduce the effectiveness of the pill. Ortho Evra (The Patch) Worn on the lower abdomen, buttocks, outer arm or upper body, the skin patch releases
progestin and estrogen to keep the ovaries from releasing eggs. By thickening the cervical mucus, it also keeps the sperm from joining the egg. Replace the patch once a week for three weeks and refrain from using one the fourth week, during your period. Effectiveness: Nine unintended pregnancies per 100 women in a year. Pros: It is easy to use and you don’t have to remember to take it daily, unlike the pill. Cons: The patch is visible and for some, the adhesive can be irritating to the skin. Nuva Ring (The Ring) This method involves the insertion of a thin, flexible ring into the vagina. The ring releases progestin and estrogen. In this method, you wear the ring for three weeks, take it out during the fourth week you have your period, and put in a new one after. Effectiveness: Nine unintended pregnancies per 100 women in a year. Pros: It is discrete and replaced monthly so you don’t have to worry about it daily, like the pill. Cons: Some people do not like the self-insertion process and sex partners may be able to feel the ring during intercourse.
Factors to Consider A few factors to consider when choosing a contraceptive method are: Objective Aside from preventing pregnancy, birth control also serves to clear up acne and regulate menstrual cycles. Depending on your needs, there may be certain methods that will suit you better than others.
Lifestyle & Convenience Are you forgetful, deathly afraid of needles or have a hectic schedule? Will you need to apply this method daily, weekly, or less frequently? How often do you engage in sexual activity? No matter which method you choose, consistency is crucial. Thus, it is important to choose a method that is realistic and suits your lifestyle and schedule. Effectiveness Some contraceptive methods are more effective than others when it comes to preventing pregnancy. It’s important to take this into consideration. Your motives and how frequently you engage in sexual activity Cost: How Affordable is Birth Control? For the most part, very! Those with student, grad or post-grad plans, do not
have a co-pay for generic birth control methods filled at Campus Health Services pharmacy. Name brand drugs have a co-pay specific to the student’s insurance plan. These plans also cover longacting contraception, such as IUD or Nexplanon, with no out-of-pocket expense to the student. Students with alternate health insurance should check with their carrier to verify coverage and out of pocket expenses, but some methods are free under Affordable Care Act.
What Next? You can schedule an appointment with Student Wellness at Campus Health to get more information about birth control and get help choosing the right method for you. Student Wellness offers free, private oneon-one appointments for students to talk with a trained sexual wellness educator about topics ranging from comparing different types of contraceptives to anxiety around sex to HIV and STI testing. The University also offers events, presentations and workshops regarding safe sex and contraceptives, such as Sexual Health: College Edition, which are also beneficial to attend to stay educated about sexual health. www.twbmag.org 15
PHYSICAL HEALTH
VOL. 5 ED. 1
Why do you eat?
I
By Cody Hayslette
ntermittent fasting has been steadily gaining traction among fad dieters since the release of the book “The Fast Diet” by Dr. Michael Mosley in January 2013. This book suggests drastically reducing one’s caloric intake to a quarter of the recommended intake for two nonconsecutive days per week. Men on a 2400-calorie diet and women on a 2000-calorie diet should consume
600 and 500 calories respectively on fast days. As far as the types of foods allowed on the 5:2 diet, Mosley offers no strict guidelines. Since the fast diet’s release there has been a significant number of spinoffs. Some diets opt for a time period of 24 to 36 hours of complete fasting once per week. Other forms of intermittent fasting suggest fasting between 10-15 hours every day and consuming
Contradictory to common knowledge, a healthy weight is possible to achieve without eating breakfast, according to WebMD.
16 The Well-Being December 2015
all of your calories with in the remaining 9-14 hours. Regardless of the variation, the focus of the diets are not on what you consume, but on when you consume. Opponents of intermittent fasting claim that it slows down one’s metabolism, which will ultimately bring about the opposite of the desired result. WebMD suggests that some studies support the claim that skipping breakfast can have negative effects on metabolism, but acknowledges that other studies show that one can achieve a healthy weight without consumption of breakfast. The one caveat is that children should not implement fasting periods, as “their growing bodies and developing brains need regular refueling often, from food.” A recent study in the Journal of the Academy
of Nutrition and Dietetics takes an in-depth look into the effects of various types of fasting regimens on the metabolic rate. The study, titled “Intermittent Fasting and Human Metabolic Health,” was conducted by eleven doctors and focused on weight and metabolic parameters associated with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The study was conducted on both humans and mice for various forms of intermittent fasting diets. The majority of the experimentation was conducted on mice populations due to mice having a very similar genetic code to humans. The results on mice showed that the diet “improves metabolic profiles and reduces the risk of obesity, obesityrelated conditions such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer.” Given that the studies with humans were not as in-depth as the rodent studies, the human data
in support of the rodent data is limited. Humans did show a reduction in weight and glucose levels, but there was imperfect and diverse evidence for decreases in insulin levels, improvements in lipid levels, or decreases in inflammatory markers. There is also data lacking in regard to the effects on health behaviors such as diet, sleep, and physical activity. Nevertheless, there is little evidence that intermittent fasting regimens are harmful physically or mentally. According to UNC dietitian Antonia Hartley, this new fad is “not an alternative to dieting, it is a diet.” There is no empirical evidence supporting the long-term success of dieting and most of the time dieters gain back all of the lost weight Harley explained. She warned against the dangers weight cycling, which is the repeated fluctuation in body weight
due to dieting. According to Hartley, weight cycling is known to cause negative health affects such as heart disease. Rather than dieting, Harley advises eating balanced. With her patients, she strives to help them recognize “the difference between physical hunger and cravings or emotional hunger.” It is clear that intermittent fasting is not the be-all and endall weight loss methods. Being healthy is a lifestyle choice, not a temporary diet. Will intermittent fasting get you to your weight goals? According to countless testimonials it will, but most health professionals agree that looking for a “quick fix,” will render results that will not last. So maybe rather than focusing on what you eat or when you eat, consider why you eat. www.twbmag.org 17
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible.’” - Audrey Hepburn