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A very good excuse to sleep in on weekends

A no-alarm Saturday is a bona fide luxury. But it doesn't just feel good—it might actually be good for ya too. A new study seems to confirm what we'd always hoped but were told not to believe: Sleeping in on weekends undoes some of the damage of sleeping too little during the week.

38,015 Swedes and 13 years later...

The short of it: 38,000 people in Sweden tracked their sleep habits (among other things) for 13 years. People who consistently slept fewer than five hours per night were more likely to die at a younger age than those who slept seven hours per night. Now here's the good part: People who slept too little during the week but managed to snag a few more hours on weekends lived as long on average as the seven-hours-per-night group.

Not everyone is convinced

Some experts argue the subjects weren't representative enough (there were fewer smokers than average, everyone was Swedish), and even the lead researcher on the study calls this a "tentative conclusion." But we'll take it as an excuse to sleep in tomorrow. Won't you??

Try this

Need an extra energy boost in the morning? Weird but true: Wait an hour and a half after waking up before having your morning coffee. Caffeine is most effective after the hormones that wake you up (cortisol and adrenaline) wear off a bit. Plus, you wake up dehydrated, and coffee will make the effects of that feel worse.
Dr. Michael J Breus PhD, the Sleep Doctor

SUMMER SECTION

Two things to watch out for this summer

1) Sunscreen in a pill. Sounds great but almost definitely not effective. There are at least five companies trying to sell these pills, and the FDA sent them all warnings this week to back down on their claims. Net-net: Don't buy sunscreen pills until there's literally any proof they work. FDA

2) Hotel pools. The word being thrown around to describe public pools is cesspool, so that's gross. The CDC is finding alarmingly high amounts of bacteria in some pools—particularly hotel pools, hot tubs, spas, and water parks. That doesn't mean you shouldn't swim this summer, but consider asking for the pool's inspection score before diving in. Avoid swallowing water if possible, and please, for the love of God, don't let your children swim in a public pool if they have diarrhea. Thanks. CDC

In good news...

Romaine lettuce is good to eat again! One less disease outbreak to worry about. 🙌 NPR

The easiest healthy dinner... ever.

You know those nights you want dinner ASAP but you don't wanna cook and takeout isn't healthy enough and you don't feel like spending the money on the delivery fee anyway? Yeah. Kettle & Fire bone broth is made for those nights.

Shelf-stable bone broth = a healthy meal always on-hand

A non-GMO, gluten-free, Paleo, and keto meal, we should add. And since Kettle & Fire makes its broth from the best ingredients, you can trust you're getting enough collagen and amino acids per serving to offer up the best benefits (a healthier digestive tract and less inflammation, anyone?).

Sound good? Order in the next week and you can get 25 percent off some of Kettle & Fire's new soups.

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The very, very best leggings for women to run in (unless you like leggings that fall down)

When you set out for a run, you're committing to, like, 30 minutes minimum of bouncing around. It honestly is asking a lot of your gear to keep everything in place for that long, but hey, it's 2018. Technology should be able to keep up.

Oh wait! It has.

There are two pairs of leggings in my drawer that don't migrate south during long runs. One cost almost $100 and feels... restricting. The other is Brooks's Greenlight Tights. They're soft. They're flattering. They're high-waisted and snug but not uncomfortably tight. And they cost $20 to $30 less than comparable leggings from other brands, which puts them firmly in the affordable category of activewear.

--Caroline Olney, platforms editor

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