CREATE THE RITUAL WITH STEVE SCHWARTZ

Tea has always been a beverage that we have enjoyed hot, iced, alone, with an array of sweeteners and even mixed with the spirit of our choice. We wanted to delve more into tea culture to find out the origin of tea, how it should be consumed, stored and what the benefits are when drinking it. We talked with Steve Schwartz, the founder of Art of Tea which is known for their 100s of options that they have available on their site, their hospitality partnerships with Wolfgang Puck, Aria, Caesars Palace and more. He talks with us about his background in Ayurveda, how he got into the industry, how he grew his company and the importance of our individual tea rituals wherever we are in the world.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What is a master tea blender and what does that position entail?

STEVE SCHWARTZ: Great well let me first share a little bit on my background. My background entails Ayurveda. It’s a form of preventative medicine based in India. I got into that because my mom was actually diagnosed with brain cancer when I was just out of high school. I got a full paid scholarship to go to college and I ended up dropping out so I could go and move back in to take care of her. So, I took care of her for about 10 months until she passed. The whole time, we were just on Western medicine and there is nothing wrong with Western medicine, it just didn’t work for us. So we went from one doctor to another and one external treatment to another. Before she passed, it got me to thinking, “gosh, cancer must have been around for thousands of years, we have only just recently labeled it as cancer. What are the other healing modalities that are out there?” I didn’t want to stick needles in people, I didn’t want to be a massage therapist or an herbologist – there is nothing wrong with any of those, it just wasn’t my path.

So, I found this school in New Mexico called the Ayurvedic Institute and really fell in love with the alchemy of blending herbs, teas and botanicals and how those herbs and botanicals link together to create unique flavor profiles and how those flavors, their profiles, herbs and healing properties affect the body in very different ways. In both a metabolic way, but also in terms of helping with hormones, digestive fire, immunity, longevity and all these things that really rally behind how these botanicals are blended together. So it’s not 1 herb plus another herb or botanical equals 2, but rather 1 + 1 could equal 4 or 6. It could multiply and increase in terms of its strength.

So I was looking into old texts and Sanskrit while I was at school and really trying to get an understanding of the alchemy of teas and herbs and it was funny that one of the patients that was there was a gentleman by the name, Yogi Bhajan (Editors Note: he is cited as bringing his version of Kundalini Yoga to the US in the late 60’s/early 70’s) and he would come to the facility and see the doctor. I would make the blends for him. Another thing that was requested was that their family would ask for other ingredients and ask us to blend in different ratios these different botanicals. So we would source and then send them the first samples and I would find 6 months or 9 months down the road that these blends were on supermarket shelves known as Yogi Teas. I was like, ok I know what I’m doing and at this point, there wasn’t a lot of real internet connectivity.

There was this company Amazon that was starting out. But most of what I was doing was making phone calls to origin all throughout Asia and India. I remember that I needed to source ginkgo. So I called and it was like $4 a minute, so I wanted to be respectful of budget and time and I said, “I need to order some ginkgo.” They said, “do you want a Western slope or an Eastern slope next to a river?” I told them that it didn’t really matter, I just wanted to order ginkgo. He said, “no sir, it does matter. I need you to come here yourself so you can experience it.” I was intrigued, I appreciated the invitation and I saved up my money and worked 4 different jobs, got a backpack and started traveling the world to find the best teas and the botanicals possible.

I had no idea that I was going to start a tea company. I just knew that I was a huge tea nerd and was into it. I saw the impact that it had on people’s lives – those that drink tea and those that don’t. What it means to them, whether it’s sitting down with a loved one at the end of the day, engaging in a meditation practice or needing to work out a research paper. Whatever it might be, I just saw the level of the impact that tea could have and so I started sourcing the different botanicals in my living room, started blending and started peddling my teas around town. I caught the attention of Wolfgang Puck and a hotel, a restaurant, a spa! Then I caught the attention of Caesar’s Palace and I ended up training the first Tea Sommelier in the United States. It sort of just grew from there and I ended up teaching classes at these world tea conventions and they were sold out. So I taught them 5 years in a row beginning with advance blending classes. There was no one teaching blending. In fact, when I realized they were asking me to teach it, I knew I had to look up old books and I ended up finding one from 1896 on blending!

AM: Wait what?

SS: Yeah! There was nothing at the time. So I said, “ok, if I’m asked to create a format, then I’m just going to share my failures and my wins. What’s working and what’s not and hopefully leave an impression and an impact. For people that took the classes, they’re now publicly traded companies or sold to Procter & Gamble. So, it’s awesome to see the impact on what’s happening in the tea industry.

AM: Wow, just thinking of you talking about this, are there new blends or nutrients that grow that they didn’t exist in the 18 or 1900’s? We enjoy a number of the items that we consume and feel that those have always been around, but are there new hybrids?

SS: Great question! First, let’s dive into what is tea and what was that book from 1896 all about back then? True tea comes from one evergreen shrub called Camellia Sinensis. All true tea comes from that evergreen shrub. If it’s not from this evergreen shrub, then it’s not tea. So for example White Tea, Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Black Tea, Pu-erh – all of these come from Camellia Sinensis. Then there are differences in terms of how they are produced, but it is very similar to wine – it all comes from grapes. Now depending on the grape that’s used, how it’s grown and processed – is it stored in an oak barrel or a stainless steel container, is the skin left on? All these play into crafting a really delicious glass of wine. The same way that tea is separated, picked at different harvest times depending on what they are looking for, put into these silos of White, Green, Oolong, Black and Pu-erh. There are some subcategories between there, different varietals of tea, those that are grown specifically for those types of teas as well.

But if it is Chamomile or Rooibos then it’s not actually a tea. It’s a totally different category known as a Tisane. It is a fancy French word that basically means botanical. You can have Mint, Chamomile and Rooibos blended together and you have a Tisane or what is called a fusion or you can blend it with tea and then you have a Tea Fusion. But Chamomile tea is actually an oxymoron as it’s not really a tea.

AM: Wow!

SS: And you now know more than 99% of the US population!

AM: Our minds are now kind of blown as we’re processing this information!

So, what do you define a Master Tea Blender as?

SS: I guess the 10,000 hour rule plays deeply into this. Having a strong sense of origin, where and how the teas are grown and when you’re tasting tea about 98% of what you are drinking is water. So what you’re looking for is the nuance within that 2% and so your tongue ends up becoming like an instrument. You’re learning how to play with the high notes and the low notes, the terroir of the different ingredients and how they will play well together. So, like an artist that is using color and a color palette to define what a painting will look like, they know where and when to add specific colors. The same thing with a blend. You want the blend to be even in terms of ingredient size so that smaller bits don’t fall into the bottom, you want that flavor profile to have a nice mouth feel in terms of what you are looking for in terms of beginning, middle and finish. But it’s knowing your ingredients well enough to see how that symphony of ingredients will come together for that final composition.

AM: What is that process like when you’re blending the teas? As you were talking, I was thinking back to last month’s issue when we talked with a Master Winemaker and she was talking about how it’s the harvest season and what takes place during this time. You were talking about that there is that kind of season in tea as well. So what’s the blending and the harvest season like for you?

SS: Great question. So the blending process in terms of the creations, when I was first starting out, I became obsessed with new blends that were coming out and I had a journal next to my bed where I would wake up in the middle of the night and I’d go, “oh, I have this great inspiration.” Sometimes, a great inspiration comes from odd things. My wife is an aesthetician and she got tons of samples of different skincare products from vendors that were sending them to her to try. Our shower is populated with tons of different scrubs and conditioners and all sorts of stuff. Being curious, I opened one up called Mandarin Cashmere and it was wow – you could almost bite into it. It was smooth, sweet, citrusy and creamy! I thought it would be an amazing tea and obviously I didn’t want to eat a scrub and no one is going to want to eat cashmere, but I thought, “ok, maybe I can take this and make it. Call it Mandarin Silk.” I ended up really honing in on where those flavor notes were hitting my nose. Over 80% of what we taste, is through our sense of smell. So where are those flavor notes hitting my nose and how can I duplicate that within a product that someone is going to want to drink? It ended up doing really well and the tea won Best Oolong in the World. So, it was really really fun and really cool!

So, there’s that part and then there’s Vera Wang who is coming up with a new line and she was like, can you make a tea that matches this perfume. In some cases, it’s really complex and in some cases, it’s really trial and error. One blend I made, I made on accident. What happened was, I was first starting out and I was on the phone with a customer and I was blending one ingredient in a batch of other ingredients that were resting. Meaning, as you blend, you want certain aromatics and compounds to be able to mesh together before you begin to introduce other ingredients to it. Just like you’re going out with friends and say you’re inviting other friends over, you may ask, “should we invite that other person?” Because that person could add a lot of value or that person could just take the air out of the room. So in the same way, you’ll introduce ingredients at staged times. So I was on the phone with the customer and I accidentally dumped one ingredient into a batch with another. While I was on the phone with them, I was like “oh shit” and this was with a 5-Star restaurant and I was like, “oh no, I’m sorry, how can I help you?” This was when I was customer service, sales, accounts receivable, accounts payable and marketing. Everything was tied into my cell phone when I was in my living room. I actually blended this, realized that I made the mistake and put it in this cello bag and put it in the corner. My wife walks in and she immediately notices where I messed up right? It’s part of her super power and she asked me what was that and I told her that I had messed up and she asked how I knew that I had? I told her that I was a Tea Expert, a Tea Master and that I knew. She said, “well you might want to try it.” I told her that I didn’t need to try it and that I knew it would be bad. She was right, it was burning in my head and I knew that I should at least try it. The next morning I woke up, I tried it and it was really good. I ended up sending samples out to different customers and they loved it. This is a tea called French Lemon Ginger and it’s still one of our most popular herbal botanical tisanes that we have to offer.

AM: What lessons have you learned through creating your teas?

SS: Allow yourself permission to fuck up!

AM: Yup!

SS: Giving yourself that permissions, messing up along the way, learning and customer feedback! That’s also been really powerful. When we launch something, what we do is first go through rounds internally and then we’ll go through rounds externally for our customers and then we’ll do a launch. So right now, we’re experimenting with a bottle beverage and we’re testing it out and we created it during this time of COVID-19. It’s called Open Sunshine and the whole idea is that there is so much power and energy by just going outside. People have this mixed relationship with what it means now to go outside and be in open sunshine. There are so many health factors about going outside. We took a look at getting Green Tea, Black Tea, Passion Fruit, Jasmine, Lemon and Ginger. We created an effervescent sparkling tea out of all of these different kinds of ingredients. So it’s a little spicy and a little sweet and slightly floral. We’re launching it in about 2 weeks and we’re pretty excited about it!

AM: That is so exciting! What is that process like when you’re thinking about your assortment? Do you have a brainstorm where x amount of products have to come to market and x amount have to go into the vault to then come back again? You have an extensive amount of teas that are on your website – so it’s interesting to hear about the rotational aspect to it.

SS: That’s a great question. So in some cases, it’s through that trial and error and we’ll walk before we run. So we’ll do soft launches, we gain feedback, learn from what people are experiencing and our tribe is very vocal. They will share direct feedback on what they love and what they don’t love. It could be through Facebook or wherever that opportunity is for them to share with us. It’s having that dynamic trust relationship with our customers to be able to learn and to hopefully get better.

We’ve tried shaving back some of our offerings as well. I think that because we have such a vocal community, they will tell us that we can’t take that tea down. So we decided that at particular times, you may or may not like this analogy – the McRib.

AM: Haha that’s smart!

SS: Yeah, we’ll say, “we’ll McRib that.” We won’t get rid of it, but we will offer it at this particular time. For example, we have a tea called Pumpkin Spiced Chai that does so well in the fall and in the winter time. But for us to sell it in the heat of the summer, just doesn’t make sense. So we’ll breathe life back into certain teas at particular times of the year.

AM: What destinations have inspired you in terms of creating different kinds of teas?

SS: Great question! We actually created and found that there are 4 reasons that people like to drink tea. We did this whole brand exercise a couple of years ago really trying to identify what it was that people are gravitating towards for their cups of tea. We found that they drink tea because it tastes good, they drink tea because of a period of time (they have to drink it in the morning to get them going, at night to help them wind down) a location (I remember going to London and sitting outside and enjoying a beautiful cup of tea or sitting on your grandmother’s porch and enjoying a delicious tea) and the last piece is the wellness piece. People drink tea because they think of the medicinal value whether it’s something that their grandmother gave them when they were a kid or they read on a supermarket label that this does a particular kind of function.

We created a Location Collection that included London, Big Sur, Tuscany – that’s a few. We also created specific teas that are only sold at specific hotels. Like at the Peninsula Hotel in Tokyo, we created a Cherry Blossom Tea in honor of the cherry blossom season. I’ve been very inspired by these different areas. In terms of the seasonal blend, there is one called Summer Rain. My family and I were driving from LA to Palm Springs and we got stuck in a monsoon. We couldn’t leave the car because it was pouring rain. By the time it stopped raining, we opened the door and you have this dry desert that is now hit with fresh rain and the smell that comes up from that floor is incredible. So I thought, how can I capture this in a tea and we created a blend called Summer Rain. It’s always a different inspiration and it’s not always so far out there in the world. It could very much be in our backyard, a memory or something that is close to us.

AM: We believe in drinking tea for its medicinal properties and we have members of our team that do so as they opt out from taking traditional medicine. Can you share what the benefits are in consuming tea in general and are there specific teas that are good for targeting immunity, relaxation and gut health?

SS: All great questions. The most powerful benefit of tea is really the ritual. I was just learning with someone about how SnapChat had this new thing called Spectacles it’s Augmented Reality and you can dive in and it transforms your physical reality with these goggles and puts you into this internal/external world combined in one. Sounds interesting right? I was curious, So I wondered, what is “augment” mean? To me, it means to change or to alter. But augment actually means, to improve. So this whole world is going to continue to evolve as we’re dealing with what COVID-19 could mean, what connecting with people remotely could mean and this whole AR world is going to continue to transform. If the biggest benefit of tea to answer your question, is that ritual, then how can we create a modern day ritual without feeling foreign or without feeling like you need all these right tools or worry that we might mess it up.

So this morning, I also looked up the word, “analog.” Analog means relating to physical space. So you have augment which means to improve and analog which means to relate to your physical space. So, I’m sort of playing with the idea of AAR. Instead of Augmented Reality, there is an Analog Augmented Reality. So what does that mean? Basically, how can we dive into that ritual of getting your water ready, selecting your tea pod, getting your cup together, selecting the right tea leaves and tapping out of technology. I am a huge fan of technology, but for just about 8-10 minutes, turn that stuff off and really dive in and hone in on that process and really be mindful and intentional. If you allow yourself that permission, that space – imagine what it could do throughout the rest of your day, the rest of your life, the people that you love and the people that you are surrounded with. Giving yourself that permission to dive in completely with all of your senses and go all in on that Analog Augmented Reality of brewing that process and sipping that process. Your mind will get totally distracted and say, “oh I need to do this and I need to tackle that email.” But just keep honing in on those few minutes and that intention is a whole paradox. You might now have 8-10 minutes to do this, but if you allow yourself that time, the impact will be so great, but it’s really allowing yourself that permission.

AM: It’s a great way of putting it. In Tokyo, we went to a tea house and had the ability to see them make our tea. To think about all the steps that we do to create tea on a daily basis as a ritual is an interesting concept – from the use of our Breville, designated cups and you do take at least half a beat to do that.

SS: And it’s a modern day ritual right? You don’t have to travel to Tokyo to have this experience. It’s a corner in your garage, it’s a small section in your patio, it’s a place in your room – wherever it might be where I am designating this space as a sacred space. That intention, you are breathing life into that intention. It will spill over into everything else that you are doing.

AM: Do you have teas that you would suggest that people can use to target issues that they are focused on?

SS: Great questions and I will answer it twofold. The first is yes, we have a wellness section on ArtofTea.com. It’s Flow Blend and Glow Blend. We have a Happy Tea, a Chill Out, Feel Better Blends, Throat Therapy, Breathe – all of these things that target very specific things. They’re all blended with Ayurveda and wellness in mind and at the same time, there is a story out about the student and the master. The master says, “You’re ready for the final exam. I want you to go in a 1 mile radius and I want you to find a specific botanical that doesn’t have medicinal value.” The student is excited and says, “ok, great”. The student has 24 hours, goes and comes back 24 hours later sobbing and says, “master, I failed. I couldn’t find a single botanical that didn’t have medicinal value.” And the master looks up and says, “no you’ve passed. Every root, every leaf, every berry, every botanical, bark has medicinal value.” But on the same tree or plant, the root may be medicine for one person and the leaves could be poison for someone else. The berry could affect one part of the body, meanwhile, the stem or the roots could affect a different part of the body. How they are blended together might also have very powerful affects. Whether you’re living reading or listening to this in the East Coast, West Coast, Mexico or Canada wherever you might be – within a 1 mile radius there are many different botanicals that are worth learning about. So I encourage local sourcing as much as possible, but also if you don’t have time, we have definitely taken a lot of the guess work out and crafted really delicious teas through what we are doing in our wellness line.

AM: You have such an interesting distribution in the sense of the website and your hospitality partners. How is that for you, is it different when you’re doing something for a hotel group versus those who are coming directly to the website to purchase?

SS: It’s a great question. We will do signature blends for our hospitality partners that are just for them like Google for example for their offices. The Aria Hotel, there are very specific teas for very specific properties, but the large majority of teas that we have to offer can be found at our website. We found that with a lot of our hotels closing and people had summer plans, a lot of the places where people would meet to work over tea – they still needed to connect over the tea experience. The ritual of what they built, still needed to happen even if it was virtual. So we decided to create a Rework kit and we crafted it with Google. Google said that they had budget and that they wanted to connect with their team and would we could do. So we created this kit with a little message inside that said, “Loving you remotely, from Google.” It was sent out to a variety of different staff members there at Google. A certain amount of boxes that were sold were sent out to First Responders. It’s been great and we’re trying to tie into this element of still connect ing with our tribe or community and really looking to make an impact through tea.

AM: We find ourselves asking this to everyone because of the impact of COVID-19 across industries has been beyond what anyone could have even imagined. Have there been effects in terms of production of tea? Has it hindered it in any way?

SS: Good and bad. So, from our side, we have the freshest and best Chamomile that we have ever had and we have a very abundant amount of this Chamomile. We bought based on what we thought the demand would be. We’re sitting on a lot of amazing Chamomile – we’ve always sourced it great, but this is really good! On the other side, Darjeeling, which is a region in India – think about a large hippie commune that has a very specific region where they have low valleys and high hills. It’s the champagne of teas and a really crisp tasting tea. They have 3 harvest seasons. Their most profitable and most important season for that region happens in a very short window. It starts, regardless of climate change and on a very particular day of the year. All the workers come together and they wait year around for this day when they can harvest. This happened at the end of March, I believe it was March 29th and the government said the day before when everyone was gearing up to harvest, that we couldn’t harvest and they were preventing it from happening. All these estates, estate owners, garden workers and harvesters – their livelihood was about to be shifted dramatically. There is already a shortage and a high demand for this high quality product so those stories, we have seen an impact. They were still able to harvest, they got creative through means of social distancing, but they were unable to do it on the exact day that it has been happening for many many years.

AM: From a customer perspective when they go to your website, are they able to request custom blends for themselves if someone is having a wedding or if they have a small business? Is there an ability to do that on a smaller level vs your larger accounts?

SS: What we have done is to create blog articles where people can take specific teas that we have and create their own fun blends with them with specific recommendations around that. We’re doing a project now with these guys called Try Guys that have a YouTube channel. We’re working on a custom tea blend with them. So we will work on specific projects, but in terms of custom blending based on individual customers or a smaller business, we will typically have them start with our 100+ teas that we have to offer on our site and helping them navigate through that process through that channel.

AM: What is the Art of Tea Academy and can you tell us more about what happens there?

SS: So glad you mentioned it. This COVID-19 period has given us the time to be super creative. So we created a 25 video series all on becoming a Tea Expert. It’s in depth training on how to taste tea, how to understand origin, flavor profiles and indepth learning on the different styles of tea. Lots of people that are foodies know where their wine comes from, their coffees their chocolate, but there is still a lot of mystique around tea. There is this idea that people will mess it up somehow. So we wanted to demystify the leaf and get people more closely connected with learning about tea. So in a very short period of time, we have had a few thousand people sign up and the response has been super positive so far. People have the time to learn and they want to up their game. Whether they’re in the hospitality space or are passionate about the love of learning, we wanted to put this out there in the world.

AM: You recently launched your tea app as well, which looks really beautiful. What are the types of things that people can do through that app?

SS: I’m so grateful for the talent of our team. Specifically, Hanna who helps leads up our marketing and is so instrumental in getting both of these sections live on our site. With the app, the app is a really fun and dynamic way to understand to best brew tea? There is a steep time section on there that you can take a really quick glance on. I found that one of the most popular pages on our site was how to brew tea. So it’s a quick and easy way that you can know how not to mess up your tea and how much to put in there.

The others connect to our tea quiz. So a lot of people will say, “I know that we need to get into tea because it’s good for me, but I don’t know where to start.” Or they have a loved one who loves tea, but they don’t know what to get them. The Tea Quiz is a bit of the ShoeDazzle and helps you navigate what is out there like a personal shopper. In just a few minutes, how can you best identify what tea will best match what you are looking for. Those are some of the fun connections that are happening on the app as well as discounts, checking out and notifications.

AM: What are your 3 go to teas that you enjoy?

SS: Wow man – it’s like what’s your favorite kid? We have a tea called Earl Grey Crème which I know we sent you guys.

AM: Yes – so good and we like the idea of adding a little gin to it at night!

SS: That’s awesome! We found that with Earl Grey, there’s lots of ways to make it. We found, that we like to make it the authentic way with Bergamot oil and we use an Italian Bergamot Oil. We put that in our Earl Grey and we also found out that some may find that it is slightly astringent for some people so some add cream, milk or sugar to it which kind of neutralizes that. What we did is to add a touch of French Vanilla which is sort of this eggy, creamy flavor profile. So the combination of that Bergamot Oil which is a bright citrus note that is slightly floral and that black tea with its brightness and astringency blended with the French, lemon, ginger – you get this full mouth feel really rounded out and smooth. I could drink that all day and we grow mint in our backyard which is easy to grow and we’ll throw that in there as well. We have a blend that has it already called Big Sur which is awesome. I could drink Earl Grey Crème all day.

I also love Japanese tea – we have one called Matcha+ which is Sencha, Green Tea and blended with ceremonial grade matcha. So you get more of a bioavailability from the matcha and it impacts the thyroid which governs immunity and metabolism and gets everything active. It is the same style tea that they use in Zen monasteries throughout Japan before they go into meditation so they can focus. You get this clear rush, but you don’t feel that jolty jitteriness that you feel with coffee.

The third that I can drink on an ongoing basis is our Silver Needle. It’s harvested about 7-10 days out of the year. It’s handpicked from Fujian Provence. We bring it in and it’s like drinking from a fresh spring. It’s slightly sweet and has slight notes of melon to it and it’s really great.

AM: Do you envision with the trend to have tea and alcohol together as a hard tea, do you envision a collaboration of something like that?

SS: It would be fun. We do work with several Kombucha companies that have both hard as well as non-alcoholic. There is a cider company that is in the works to launch something sometime next year with our tea. Just in general, I think that tea and alcohol especially now, right? I need to do something good for me and I need to be able to put something in my body and at the same time, they’re like fuck it – I need alcohol and I need something that’s going to make me chill out a bit. When you blend the two together, it’s not so bad!

AM: Does tea have a shelf life in general and what is the best way to put it in containers to keep it fresh?

SS: Great question! Tea is sensitive to light, heat and humidity. As long as you keep it from those, you can have tea last for a long time and have a really great experience. If it is subject to any of those or is near your spice drawer or anything that is fragrant, it acts as a natural odor absorber and it will take up the smells of other things. You just want to make sure that it is in an airtight container.

In terms of the shelf life for tea, tea if produced well and is high quality, it shouldn’t go bad. What we end up finding is that we have Best by Dates as we believe that there is a peak flavor profile that you’re going to get out of a tea in terms of being a live product. Over time, that flavor will drop which means you will lose some natural oil content, the vibrancy of the leaves will start to diminish.

We moved warehouses a few years ago from one location to the next. We found, tucked away in one drawer, tea that was over 5 years old. It was packed well, kept cool in a dark place and we decided to try it and it was fresh, dynamic and really really good. As long as it is stored right, you can have tea last a long time.

AM: I know earlier we were talking about the Pumpkin Chai Tea, but are there things coming out in the fall or holiday that we should keep an eye out for whether it’s new to market or being placed back into rotation?

SS: So a few things. Today we just launched in celebration of our SoCal roots, a beverage that is really popular here is Agua Frescas – just imagine melon water, hibiscus water or cantaloupe water. We did a few events, one was called Summit and a big coffee and tea tea trade show where we soft launched this product called Matcha Fresca!

AM: Oooo that sounds refreshing and amazing!

SS: Haha yes we will send you some! It’s a premium grade matcha with cantaloupe essence and it’s so good! You get this fresh taste like you’re biting into this juicy cantaloupe and the matcha is a really bright green color to stay consistent. This is out now and we’re super excited about that!

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PHOTOGRAPHY | Audrey Ma

Read the Aug Issue of Athleisure Mag #56 and see Create the Ritual with Steve Schwartz in mag.

Hear the founder of Art of Tea, Steve Schwartz on our show, Athleisure Kitchen - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on iHeart Radio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

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States next to hot spot states are more vulnerable in these challenging times.

The countries that have been successful in reducing the spread of the virus wore masks, socially distanced and washed/sanitized their hands. 

There should be a National Mask Mandate until the hazards and dangers faced by Covid-19 are reduced.

#NMM #NationalMaskMandate #MandateMasks #MaskUp #MaskUpAmerica #FederalMaskMandate #WearAMask #WearADamnMask

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

S1. E13. | BUNGALOW SK WITH MISS NEW JERSEY USA GINA MELLISH

On today's episode of Bungalow SK, we catch up with Miss NJ USA 2020, Gina Mellish as we all continue to navigate quarantine and social distancing due to COVID-19. Gina shares her history in the pageant world, being crowned and how she continues to fulfill her duties even during these past few months. In addition, she talks about how she uses her personal journey and her platform to assist those who are dealing with domestic violence and its effects regardless of the kinds of interpersonal relationships that you're involved in. She even talks about her work with One Love Foundation. We chat about how you can identify if you or someone you know is dealing with domestic violence and how you can help. She also talks about how these situations take on a bigger need to assist those that need help during times of COVID-19. We also talk about the road ahead from preparing to compete for Miss USA as well as her love for the fashion industry.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

MANAGING THE ANXIETY WITH HEATHER CENTURIONI

We are living in the midst of times that we couldn't create out of the most vivid of our imaginations! With so much uncertainty, we checked in with Heather Centurioni of CODE RED to talk about how being an athlete has fueled her career, how to motivate others to make good choices as they sustain their fitness goals as well as their mental health. She shares insightful tips that are worth noting as we continue to navigate our new reality.

ATHLEISURE MAG: You grew up as a junior elite level athlete in downhill skiing and suffered a horrific downhill ski race accident - how did that shape your focus in living a healthy lifestyle?

HEATHER CENTURIONI: As a young athlete, I could eat whatever I wanted. I could get away with a lot. We were taught to carb-load, etc. I don’t think I ever realized the power of food until I became overweight and nothing was working. I wanted to be healthy, but I had no idea where to start. I knew I was addicted to sugar and carbs. I knew I didn’t need another diet. I needed to learn how to eat. How to fuel my body. How to take care of myself. I also wanted to feel good again, like I did as a young athlete.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to work in the wellness industry and become a health and wellness coach?

HC: I always have felt the pull to help people. I knew it was my calling, but I struggled for years to figure out what that meant and what it looked like. I am a mother hen at heart. I am at my best when I am lifting others up.

When I began my wellness journey in June 2017, I saw that I was going to get healthy and when I could lift others up who was on the same path, it felt really good! I saw how a high vibe tribe can guarantee success.

AM: How important is accountability in your wellness journey whether you're looking to stay fit, lose weight or other goals that involve transforming your goals based on your desired need?

HC: Listen, if we all could do it alone, we would have already done it, right? I was an elite ski racer, it was me and the clock on the course. I played tennis and golf. I tend to lean towards individual things. “I can do it on my own” type things. In high school and college, I loathed group projects. I prefer things my way. That type A, self-centered trait was not serving me well in my desire to get healthy. I was failing at every corner. I was ashamed. I managed to pack on over 200 pounds, which was far too much for my 5’3” frame. My prosthetics didn’t fit. I was a fat amputee and it was depressing. Having an accountability group was integral to my success. It required me to open up, to be honest, and to be vulnerable. Sharing your good days, right along with your bad days is as important as seeing others do the same. I came to Code Red feeling very isolated. I was depressed. I assumed I was the only one. Being part of a group that understood my feelings really made a difference.

AM: Tell us about CODE RED and why you decided to use their program when you were looking to lose weight?

HC: I was drawn to Code Red for several reasons. It was simple. I wasn’t going to have to exercise (for an overweight amputee, this was key!). My prosthetics were so ill-fitting, just walking around the house was painful. I started with an entry-level challenge. I had nothing to lose. I was deflated, depressed and quite possibly the lowest spot in all my years. The easy rules, support and no-nonsense approach drew me in. I also knew that the program had a maintenance plan. I knew I could get the weight off, but I had never found a program that taught you how to maintain. Funny enough, the end and the far future were most important to me and I knew in my heart that Code Red would give me the tools to stay healthy long term. I also didn’t have to buy crappy shakes, expensive supplements or prescription drugs. I was told to drink water, eat from a healthy food list and sleep! It’s truly that simple.

AM: Because of your success, you became a Certified Coach with CODE RED, why did you decide to work with them?

HC: I believed in the owner, Cristy Nickel and I think she saw my servant's heart and picked up on my keen ability to understand people. I learned a lot after my ski racing accident and in the years that followed. Deciding to have your leg amputated as an 18-year-old, learning to walk again, finishing high school, living in constant pain, I learned a ton about myself and the power of the human spirit. I knew how to overcome.

I knew Cristy’s no-nonsense, simple approach worked and she taught me well, so I was grateful for the opportunity to learn from her and to work alongside her. I also knew, this was it…my calling! I finally found it! The opportunity to help people lose weight, get them healthy and watch their lives change for the better, to them overcome, it has been a dream come true.

AM: What is the CODE RED Lifestyle model?

HC: Code Red is a rallying cry for every person who is fed up with the information overload, complicated diets, and extreme exercise programs. We focus on water, sleep and real food.

AM: We're living in strange times as we are staying at home to flatten the curve, our routines have definitely been altered and anxiety has become a result of these changes - how can we manage this?

HC: Good gracious, it has been hard, right? I think there are several things that can help folks:

* Be grateful and find Grace in the tough moments and the good ones.

* Stay on track with life via a list and a plan.

* Take a time out each day to just be. Being present when you are feeling anxious really helps.

* If you are fortunate enough to have the gift of extra time, use it wisely. Spend it with your family, learn something new, embrace it. When will we ever have extra time again?

AM: For those that are focusing on losing weight during COVID-19 quarantine, what tips do you suggest?

HC: * Drink water!

* Sleep at least 7 hours!

* Ditch the sugar!

* Plan, prep and schedule meal times. Don’t leave your kitchen open all day. Having kitchen hours keeps you from grazing all day and mindless eating.

* If you find yourself turning to food and drinks to soothe your soul, make a list of 12 things you can do instead of over indulging. Maybe you have some chores to tend too, maybe you have a craft to finish, maybe you want to learn something new. DO IT!

AM: Many have found issues in terms of ordering the food that they need whether there are shortages in their grocery stores, delays in deliveries that are coming to them, etc. How can they reduce their anxieties on not being able to control these issues while also staying on their plan?

HC: Keep things simple. Eating well isn’t complicated. You don’t have to be a kitchen whiz to make good food and you don’t have to spend a fortune either. Less is more. Look for vegetables (fresh, frozen, even canned), fats and proteins. Avoid the inner aisles of the grocery stores.

AM: From a mental wellness standpoint, what are some tips that you have for those that are looking to reduce the noise of everything that we've all gone through from updates on COVID, anxiety over when there will be concrete information about re-openings and going back to our routines etc?

HC: I talk a lot about the background noise in our lives with my clients. It comes at us from all directions. Currently, it is everywhere, all the time. No two reports are the same, it’s hard to have faith in anything. I encourage people to cleanup their newsfeeds, if watching the nightly news is depressing, STOP watching! Find something else to do with your time. Don’t buy into all the hysteria. If you can eat real food, ditch the sugar, drink water and get a good night’s rest, you will feel so much better. How you fuel your body will help you with deal with the uncertainty. I know that sounds strange, but you will have less brain fog and less anxiety. The healthier you are, the less likely you are to get sick. Taking care of yourself now, will keep you healthier no matter the situation.

IG @Code_Red_Coach_Heather

PHOTO COURTESY | Heather Centurioni

Read the May Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Managing the Anxiety with Heather Centurioni in mag.

S1. E7. | BUNGALOW SK WITH SAMANTHA BUSCH

Avid readers of Athleisure Mag know that in 2018 (Issue #27), we had Ashley Busch, wife of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch as our cover. In today's episode of Bungalow SK, we chatted with her sister-in-law, Samantha Busch, wife of NASCAR driver, Kyle Busch. Samantha is known for her fashion sense, her boutique - Avant the Label, being a mom and being one of the stars of CMT's Racing Wives. We also talked about IVF and how she is helping those who are in the process of that journey as well as the importance of staying connected especially during the current times as we all do our part to #flattenthecurve and #stayathome.

Today's interview with Samantha Busch is via her partnership with Walmart Family Mobile, an affordable wireless solution for families to stay connected, organized and a step ahead during the busy racing season. 

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

WHAT DO YOUR FARTS REVEAL ABOUT YOUR HEALTH?

Fluff, cutting the cheese, breaking wind, booty belch, whoopee, and anal salute are all different ways to refer to the standard and embarrassing fart. Did you know the average person farts approximately 14 to 23 times per day? As awkward as it may be, everyone needs to release gas from their body. It is part of the digestive process and is a necessary bodily function. What do your farts (passing gas) reveal about your general health?  

What is a fart? Flatulence, also known as a fart, is something everyone experiences. It's the release of intestinal gas, which forms as a result of digesting food. Gas can be found throughout the digestive tract, including the stomach, small intestine, colon, and rectum.

New York-Based Internist and Gastroenterologist, Dr. Niket Sonpal, explains what your flatulence is trying to tell you.

1. Do you have a balanced diet?

A balanced diet should provide the body with the proper number of vitamins and nutrients. Consuming the appropriate amount of fiber and healthy foods helps keep the digestive system working correctly. If you tend to pass gas more often than you would like, this could mean that the body is not receiving the correct nutrients. Avoiding foods that are processed and harder to digest and sticking to more natural ingredients, could decrease how often you toot. 

2. You may have a food intolerance.   

Not all food allergies can be life-threatening; however, they can still cause conflict day-to-day for some individuals. Food intolerances mainly affect the digestive system making it harder for the stomach to digest food properly. This can lead to smelly and awkward bloating, reflux, and diarrhea after a meal. For example, people with a dairy intolerance struggle to digest lactose, which results in the stomach becoming extraordinarily bloated and sends out foul smells out of the anus. 

3. Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Constantly farting throughout the day could be a sign of a health issue such as irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, or, in extreme cases, colon cancer. Typically, these health issues cause extreme flatulence, odors or odd pressure on the rectum when they are about to be released. 

4. You are stressed. 

Symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome go hand in hand with stress. Stress and anxiety can lead to excessive swallowing of air, oxygen release, and digestion issues. These are three causes of having more gas than usual. When people are panicking or stressed, they often swallow more air than necessary, leading to bloating and pressure that needs to be released. On the other spectrum, hyperventilating allows an excess of oxygen to enter the bloodstream, which can also lead to gas problems. 

5.Pre-Menstrual Women  

That time of the month is already painful enough. There are changes in your bowel habits during this time caused by fluctuations in hormones. The shift in your hormones and bowel movements cause farting to become more frequent and smellier during this time of the month. Be mindful of accidentally passing wind while you are pre-menstrual.

6. You might have harmful gut bacteria.

Regular farting is an indicator of healthy gut bacteria and a properly working digestive system. Your body needs good bacteria in your intestine for it to remain healthy. Microbes in your gut are a positive thing because they eat up excess fiber and carbohydrates we do not use. Also, they produce beneficial bacteria. If you do not have any good bacteria, it can lead to constipation and bloating, which is unhealthy for your digestive system.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

HOW CBD WORKS IN YOUR BODY TO ALLEVIATE PAIN

CBD, short for cannabidiol, is one of the most popular components of cannabis, hemp, or marijuana plant. This is a non-psychoactive part of the plant, hence you can be sure that when using CBD, you don't get intoxicated. Because this compound doesn’t give you that high feeling, all that's left for you to feel are the positive benefits that it can bring to your body.  

While CBD oil may seem like a new trend, it's already been in use hundreds of years ago as a traditional Chinese medicine to treat and alleviate pain. It's only recently that it's gained widespread talk and acceptance because it's already been legalized for medical, and even recreation purposes, in some states and nations.

Of the many benefits that it brings to the human body, this article focuses on pain management. This piece gives you everything you need to know about using CBD oil to alleviate pain.

What Causes Pain In The Body?

Once the body starts to manifest pain, this can generally be a symptom of a disease or a physical injury. Pain can either be internal or external. With external pain, this starts during a bout of  inflammation or any tissue injury. It can also happen temporarily after going through some external treatments of the body. Internal pain, on the other hand, can be a sign of an impending disease.

When pain starts to be experienced, the common recourse is to take pain relievers. While these are generally harmless for the short-term, in the long run, using these medications may result in dependence. Then, all the other adverse side effects of dependence on synthetic medication will also start to manifest.

This fact is precisely why those who regularly experience pain are now looking for healthier alternatives, such as CBD oil.

How Does CBD Work For Pain In The Body?

To get things straight, yes, CBD does work successfully for pain in the body. This is made possible through the components of CBD, which interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system. It is responsible for translating and receiving information from the cannabinoids.

The endocannabinoid receptors of the human body are responsible for controlling functions, such as sleep, pain, and how the immune system reacts to diseases. These receptors are also referred to as the small proteins that are attached to the surface of cells that get chemical signals from CBD.

Thanks to technology, there are many ways to take in CBD oil. You don’t have to limit yourself only to pills. There are now CBD edibles, such as gummies for pain, tinctures, and topical creams, among others.

What Kinds Of Pain Can CBD Help Manage?

The human body experiences many different types of pain. Each one has its respective symptoms that need to be treated before it’s too late. CBD oil is found to be successful in treating conditions, such as cancer pain, arthritic pain, and chronic pain, among others.

1. Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis refers to an autoimmune disease that affects the entire body, through the brain and the nerves. Muscle spasms, which can be painful, are a common symptom of this ailment.

2. Arthritic Pain

Arthritis is a disease that affects the joints of the human body. For patients who have arthritis, excruciating pain can generally be experienced in the toes, knees, and hips. It has been found that when CBD is applied topically, it is successful not just in alleviating pain, but inflammation as well.

3. Cancer Pain

It is important to note that CBD does not cure cancer. At the moment, there's no cure yet for cancer. But, CBD oil can help cancer patients in alleviating the pain they’re feeling,  as well as the symptoms of cancer treatments, such as nausea and vomiting. As a result, the quality of life of the patients undergoing cancer treatments is improved.

4. Chronic Pain

CBD oil is also an effective treatment form for chronic pain, which refers to the bodily pain that generally lasts for around three to six months. This usually happens after the patient has recently gone through a physical injury; after healing, the pain persists.

Some of the symptoms of chronic pain include lack of energy, throbbing, depression, burning, and stiffness.

Now, you may ask, “How long does it take for CBD oil to work?”  Generally, this is dependent on the kind of CBD oil that you use, as well as the dosage and concentration. This is precisely the reason why it’s better for first-timers to try out CBD oil in the evening, when it’s easier for the body to cope with the effects.

Conclusion

From reading this article, perhaps, all your confusion about CBD oil has finally been laid to rest. But, one essential thing for you to remember is that whenever you're unsure, always seek the advice of a health or medical professional. Moreover, never go beyond the dosage that’s been set for you.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

LADDER HYDRATION

We are excited to hear about Ladder's new science-based Ladder Hydration - a performance sports drink that replenishes electrolytes lost in sweat.

From Ladder, the sports nutrition company founded by LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ladder Hydration is designed for all athletes from every sport to achieve peak performance during and after physical activity. It was created to provide a caffeine-free energy boost for the toughest workouts, help overcome fatigue and cramping, and assist the body in absorbing more nutrients so athletes can always finish strong. From pre-workout, to everyday greens and post recovery proteins, Ladder Hydration will now support athletes during and after any workout.

We caught up with Dr. Abbie Smith-Ryan, Ladder’s Nutrition and Science advisor and Director of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Applied Physiology Laboratory, to learn more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Hello Dr. Abbie Smith-Ryan, we’re excited to hear about Ladder’s new product - Ladder Hydration. Tell us about it?

DR. ABBIE SMITH-RYAN: Ladder Hydration is a uniquely evidence-based formulated, easily portable, effective solution to help with rehydration and performance.

AM: What is your background and what are some of your roles with Ladder as Nutrition and Science advisor.

DR. ASR: I am an Associate Professor and Director of the Applied Physiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina where I develop and evaluate research related to nutrition and health. As a Nutrition and Science advisor to Ladder, I work with the team to help bring in science to product formulation, innovation, and education about how/when/why to use specific products.

AM: What is Ladder’s Refuel Ratio, how does that work?

DR. ASR: The ‘Refuel Ratio’ is a scientifically backed combination of electrolytes to maximize fluid replenishment to reduce the chance of muscle cramping, enhance performance, and amplify recovery. This relies on a unique ratio of Sodium:Potassium – this is essential for fluid replacement and minimizing muscle cramps; Calcium:Magnesium—this is essential for optimizing muscle contraction and recovery; and Potassium:Calcium – this supports an environment to reduce muscle cramps and optimal muscle performance.

AM: How does this lead to offering such a complete hydration product for the market?

DR. ASR: The other key component of Ladder Hydration is the addition of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are essential for performance and hydration—which are often overlooked in many products on the market. Carbohydrates—specifically sugar, such as dextrose during and after exercise, are key for increasing exercise performance and for rehydration—Interesting, carbohydrate ingestion during and after exercise have also been shown to bolster immunity. Ladder Hydration is also available in portable packets which can help facilitate hydration in a variety of difficult scenarios. Altogether, Ladder Hydration is one of few products on the market that includes all of the electrolytes and carbohydrates, in the ideal ratio, that are needed to maximize rehydration and performance.

AM: How does Ladder Hydration compare among the many product choices available today?

DR. ASR: As you will notice- many hydration products either are missing carbohydrate or lack enough electrolytes. Specifically, they are made/marketed to be consumed at any point throughout the day. To be effective, a hydration product should be higher in sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium than our typically daily beverages. They should also taste saltier and sweeter – to help replenish micronutrients following exercise and increase the desire to drink.

AM: What are some key ingredients and what’s notably missing?

DR. ASR: One key ingredient, beyond what is mentioned above- Ladder Hydration also includes Vitamin D. The majority of individuals are deficient in Vitamin D—which has also been linked to optimal muscle contraction, performance, and immune function – the addition of Vitamin D here can further support optimal health and performance.

AM: When are good times to use this – is this great for pre-workout, recovery and/or everyday health?

DR. ASR: This product is optimal for post-exercise—after sweating. It is uniquely formulated to help replenish electrolytes and enhance recovery. Additionally, if someone is exercising for a long period of time with sweating- Ladder Hydration would be recommended during exercise.

PHOTOS COURTESY | Ladder

IG @LadderSport

Read the March Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Ladder Hydration in mag.

TOP 5 THE FACE SHOP BEAUTY PRODUCTS SAFE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN

Pregnant women should always be careful choosing beauty products because the skin can absorb harsh chemicals that could potentially harm the unborn baby. If you're going through a pregnancy, you need to buy skincare products that are appropriate for the changes that your body undergoes.

You may notice dryness and swelling in some areas of your face, and those are normal. The best thing you can do under those circumstances is to change the way you take care of your skin.

Skin Changes During Pregnancy

Pregnancy causes several skin changes because of shifts in blood flow and maternal hormones like estrogen and progesterone. You can observe pigmentation changes around the nipples, the inner thighs, the neck, and the genitals. These parts might darken due to hormonal changes.

While most of these skin changes are reasonable, you can control excessive signs and symptoms brought about by stress, pollution, temperature changes, and hormonal changes, such as too dry or too oily skin using natural skincare products.

Products Safe for Pregnant Women

The Face Shop is one of the leading Korean brands that offer pregnant-friendly skincare products with natural ingredients like this beauty product. What are the best beauty products sold by the company? And what makes these products highly beneficial for pregnant women? Let's find out!

Here are the top natural beauty products you can try today from the leading Korean beauty brand:

1. My Plant Hand Cream

Your hand could get dry and uncomfortable. Some pregnant women even have carpal tunnel syndrome, and the wrists could get awkward. You should try this hand cream recommended for pregnant women while you massage them gently to avoid issues.

This cactus-shaped plant-based hand cream is naturally-enriched with the moisture-sealing agave atrovirens extract, providing long-lasting moisture. You'll love the cute cactus-shaped packaging and the cucumber-like scent that can refresh your senses.

2. Jeju Volcanic Lava Peel-Off Clay Mask

Pregnant women usually experience excessively oily or dry skin as well as skin breakouts, most notably on the nose area due to hormonal changes. This volcanic lava from Jenu Island peel-off clay mask from The Face Shop uses volcanic ash combined with other Jeju Island sourced natural ingredients, which are very safe during pregnancy.

This product purifies the pores and absorbs excess sebum. It's a mask that allows you to exfoliate dead skin cells and promote cell rejuvenation. Use this product twice a week if you feel that your face is too oily, and only once a week if it's flaky.

3. Calendula Essential Moisture Eye Cream

The undereye areas are some of the most vulnerable parts of the face. During your pregnancy, you could be prone to dark circles and puffiness, so it's essential to use eye cream every night. The cream can help reduce wrinkles and eyebags.

The Calendula Essential Moisture Eye Cream is a natural eye cream made with calendula, cornflower, chamomile, rooibos, sage, lily, and borage extracts that soothe and revitalize the delicate eye area. Pregnant women won't feel uncomfortable because this eye cream doesn't leave a sticky and cumbersome feel.

4. Power Perfection BB Cream

Pregnant women usually experience uneven skin because of maternal hormone changes. Often, regardless of how well you've taken care of your skin, there are blemishes and dark spots. The simple solution is to use a blemish balm or BB cream underneath your cosmetics.

The Power Perfection BB cream helps even skin tone. Also, it moisturizes and brightens the skin as well as reduce wrinkles and protect the skin against ultraviolet rays with SPF37. This cream helps your skin look bright and fresh.

5. Rice Water Bright Light Cleansing Oil

A makeup remover or oil cleanser is essential to any beauty routine. It's the first step to any skincare routine. This rice water cleansing oil cleans the face in a gentle way that pregnant women needs. It removes makeup and skin impurities, which leaves the skin fresh, soft, and clean. If you're an expectant mom who wears heavy makeup, this rice water cleanser helps cleanse and remove makeup. It will leave your skin feeling soft without the sticky feel.

Conclusion

Pregnant women have unique skincare needs because of hormonal changes, physical stress, extra weight, and dietary changes. That's why as much as possible, fewer chemicals should be used. Natural skin care products from The Face Shop made of natural ingredients. These products are gentle on the skin because the products don’t contain harsh chemicals.

5 WAYS COLLAGEN PROTEIN CAN BOOST YOUR OVERALL HEALTH

Collagen is essential to general health and wellness. Collagen, which is considered a structural protein, is found in the body’s connective tissues such as cartilage, bones, tendons, ligaments, and skin. Blood vessels and digestive tract organs also have an abundance of collagen.

Considering its uses all across the body, it’s no wonder many people use collagen supplements to help maintain their overall health. While the body naturally produces collagen on its own, production slows with age, starting when you hit your mid-twenties. Also, lifestyle habits such as smoking and having a high-sugar diet can lower collagen levels in the body.

Collagen Explained

To understand the importance of collagen, you can think of it like a glue that holds the body together. Scientists have identified 28 types of collagen that each have different molecular structures. However, the first three types are most important:

●      Type 1 – Makes up the majority of collagen in the body, primarily found in bones, tendons, cartilage, skin, and teeth.

●      Type 2 – Composed of loosely packed fibers and thus found in tissues like elastic cartilage.

●      Type 3 – Provides structure to arteries, organs, and muscles.

5 Health Benefits of Collagen Protein

Now that you know what collagen is and wherein the body it’s found, you may be wondering what the concrete health benefits of collagen protein are. If you’re thinking about adding more collagen to your diet or taking is as a supplement, consider the following possible benefits and talk to your doctor about proper usage.

1. Better Skin, Hair, and Nails – As you age, you’ll likely start to see wrinkles form and notice drier, sagging skin. This results from the body’s slowed production of collagen. Studies show that both short-term and long-term collagen use can help hydrate your skin and maintain its elasticity. Collagen also promotes hair and nail growth and strength.

2. Stronger Bones and Joints – If your bones and joints give you grief, increasing your collagen intake can offer relief. Because collagen intake can help accumulate cartilage, it has shown promise for the treatment of osteoarthritis and other joint disorders. Collagen also helps increase bone density, making collagen supplementation a great way to help treat osteoporosis.

3. Heart Health – Studies suggest that collagen helps to prevent the accumulation of plaque in your arteries. Type 1 and Type 2 collagen significantly contribute to the strength and elasticity of arterial walls.

4. Digestive Health – The villi that line your intestinal wall are largely made of collagen. Collagen provides the amino acids needed to repair and rebuild the intestinal wall. Also, glycine, the main amino acid in collagen, can help treat inflammatory diseases.

5. Brain Benefits – While more studies need to be conducted, research has shown that collagen may help slow down the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by protecting the brain from amyloid-beta proteins. This kind of amino acid has been found to attack neurons in Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Incorporate Collagen Into Your Daily Routine

The benefits of increasing collagen in your body are numerous, and so are the many different ways you can add supplemental collagen intake to your everyday life. You can consume collagen as a powder that easily mixes with the food and drinks you already consume. Or, you can alter your diet to include more collagen-rich foods like bone broth, chicken, and egg whites. However you decide to add collagen use to your daily routine, you’ll likely start to see great improvements to your overall health.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

ATHLEISURE LIST | STUDS

A number of 80's and 90's babies are familiar with what was involved in getting their ears pierced whether it was the mall, it seemed like a communal affair and not an experience that makes you feel like proper attention is being paid to it.

At STUDS in Soho, they allow their guests to enjoy the experience of getting their ears pierced. STUDS is focused on the EarScape - the combined art + science of decorating one’s ear with personalized piercings + earrings, resulting in a form of extreme self-expression.

Whether you have an appointment (there is an appointment window that you can book one within) or opt to walk in, STUDS encourages people to come in, browse and decide the style that they will get.

The process begins with a consultation to decide how many piercings you will get and whereas they have a chart showing a number of places along the ear that you can have. Upon deciding on what you will get, your ears will have a trained professionals that don't uses a needle and not an ear gun. In addition, this service will be conducted in a private room!

Just this process alone makes us wonder how we endured those mall days of getting our ears pierced. This studio focuses on ears and has a number of piercings from hoops, studs and more. In addition, pricing is straight forward with the cost being a flat rate that includes the number of piercings and the jewelry to avoid surprises!

It's worth noting that the jewelry offered at STUDS offers implant-grade metals: surgical steel, titanium, or 14k gold. All of their piercing jewelry is hypoallergenic, as is some of their non-piercing jewelry (any sterling silver options). For those with a nickel allergy, you’ll want to choose titanium or 14k gold pieces.

STUDS NOLITA

12 Prince St NY, NY 10012

www.studs.com

IG @Studs

Read the Feb Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Athleisure List | Studs in mag.

CBD 101: HOW TO TAKE THE RIGHT DOSAGE FOR EVERY USE

CBD or Cannabidiol is one type of cannabinoid that you’ll find in Cannabis plants. It’s a natural compound that interacts with the human body’s endocannabinoid biological system. The endocannabinoid system or ECS regulates various physiological and cognitive processes such as pain-sensation, appetite, sleep, and mood. The ECS functions to promote equilibrium in the body or homeostasis. CBD and other cannabinoids help with regulation and homeostasis when they get introduced into the body. They assist in alleviating pain, improving sleep quality, increasing appetite, and reducing stress.

A significant result between the interaction of CBD and the endocannabinoid system is the easing of symptoms associated with conditions like HIV, cancer, chronic pain, mood disorders, stress, anxiety, nausea, epilepsy, and sleep disorders like insomnia.

How Much Is Too Much?

Well, you’ve probably already heard about the benefits of taking Cannabidiol products. Websites like https://cheefbotanicals.com have CBD products that use only pure, wholesome ingredients. But how much should you really take to feel those? Is there a correct CBD dosage? The short answer to that question is no. Yes, you heard it right, there’s no correct or perfect dosage for taking CBD. The optimal dose depends on several factors like the consumer’s body type, his/her Cannabidiol tolerance, as well as the level of discomfort or pain. Other essential considerations include the kind and concentration of CBD products since each can interact with the body differently.

In this post, you’ll learn how to take the right dosage for every use of CBD.

The Factors To Consider When Figuring Out The Right Amount Of CBD For You

The amount of Cannabidiol you should take mainly depends on several factors, including the CBD concentration in each gummy snack, drop, capsule, or pill, your body chemistry, the condition you’re going to treat, and your body weight. Below is a closer look at these essential dosage considerations:

1. Concentration

Strength or concentration refers to the amount of Cannabidiol in a given product. Concentration usually gets measured in milligrams (mg). It’s different from dosage, which is what indicates the CBD amount per serving. Say, for example, one CBD tincture bottle has a concentration of 1500 milligrams and contains thirty milliliters of a tincture, with one milliliter as the standard serving size. What that means is that each 1-milliliter serving will hold an approximate amount of 50 milligrams of Cannabidiol. It doesn’t mean that the consumer is going to ingest 1500 milligrams with each dosage.

2. Tolerance

Cannabidiol consumers tend to develop tolerance over time, and it will result in reduced effects even from the same dosage. What it means is that there will be a need for higher subsequent doses to continue achieving the desired results.

3. Desired Effects

More often than not, the optimal CBD dose comes down to the pain or discomfort level a person experiences. Those who suffer from severe anxiety or chronic pain may require a higher dose when alleviating their symptoms. An individual with a milder condition, on the other hand, may opt for a lower dose with less noticeable effects.

4. Body Weight

How little or how much Cannabidiol affects the body also depends on the weight of a person. Generally, higher doses suit heavier people in terms of experiencing the calming effects of Cannabidiol. A lower dose, on the other hand, should give the same effect to lighter individuals.

Calculating The Dosage

Some CBD products tell you how much Cannabidiol is present in one serving. This is true for products like pills, capsules, and CBD gummies, among others. A bottle of CBD capsules may have a packaging that indicates that there are five milligrams of CBD per capsule.

If you’re going to use CBD oil, it most likely will come in a dropper bottle. The bottle’s packaging might specify the amount of Cannabidiol present in one drop. You can start figuring out how many drops you’ll need from there. Sometimes, though, it can be challenging to figure out how much Cannabidiol is present in a single drop since the packaging specifies what’s the total amount of CBD that the entire bottle contains.

A single drop is around 0.05 mL. That’s for one drop, not the full dropper. What that means is that a 10-milliliter bottle of Cannabidiol oil, for example, contains 200 drops. Of course, if the packaging says that the bottle has 1000 milligrams of CBD, then each drop should hold about 5 milligrams of the compound. That said, to receive 20 milligrams of that particular type of CBD oil, an individual should take four drops.

Final Thoughts

When deciding for the amount of CBD to take, one should consider many variables like the ones mentioned and discussed in this post. If you’re not sure how to go about it, talk to a trusted physician to get advice on the appropriate dosage and the potential risks that come with it. Of course, stick to whatever recommendation the doctor gives.

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MANAGING HEALTH AND WELLNESS DURING THE HOLDAYS

We’re still in the midst of the holiday season even though a number of the holiday have passed us. With New Years Eve, New Years Day and additional holidays that incorporate gift exchanges and other festivities, we sat down with Terra Wellington to find out how we can optimize this time so that we can still be good to our physical bodies as well as enjoying being with our friends, family and colleagues!

ATHLEISURE MAG: What is it about the holiday season that puts us at risk, in your opinion, from being focused on our health and even over doing things when we’re just trying to have a good time and trying to get into the holiday spirit?

TERRA WELLINGTON: Well yes, I’m here on behalf of iHerb.com and yes we can get stressed, we can lose our energy and also become susceptible to the cold and flu. So I have two prevention tips for that. One is to make sure that you wash your hands on a regular basis and not touch your face. Those two things will really helped with reducing the transmission of germs and also reduce your stress. This will help to boost your immunity and one thing that you can do to make that happen is to make sure that you’re hydrated. If you’re hydrated, that will help you flush those toxins out of your body.

AM: That’s good to know. A lot of our readers debate whether we should wash our hands or is it ok to use the different types of antibacterial products? Are they both ok or is one better than the other?

TW: There is a lot of controversy on those hand sanitizers, let’s say. Just be careful with reading those labels and make sure that you’re teaching your children that they are washing their hands correctly. I’d say that they should be doing it 20 seconds for all surfaces of your hands.

Of course, keeping up your energy is a big thing this time of year and reducing your sugar content is really important. It’s tough as there is a lot of sugar out there this time of year. From the time that you eat that holiday sugar, you will get a tiny spike of energy – but then you get that crash.

So one of the things that you can do according to the studies at the National Institute of Health is that you can look to apple cider vinegar to help you with this. It looks to control that blood sugar and to maintain your energy. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like really drinking apple cider vinegar! But Gummiology has apple cider vinegar gummies and it’s a lot more tasty!

AM: We have to admit that drinking apple cider vinegar straight is not something we enjoy doing so having that as an alternative is good to know. Are there certain nutrients that can assist us in naturally boost our immunity?

TW: According to the Mayo Clinic and other studies, Vitamin D can help to boost our immunity which can be very helpful. You can go outside directly into the sunshine and that can help your body to produce its own Vitamin D. Of course, during the wintertime it may be a bit more difficult because of the shorter days. So Vitamin D supplements can help with that. I suggest Lake Avenue Nutrition Vitamin D3 – it’s available at iHerb.com. I like how this trusted retail site is really great with helping you research the kinds of products that you want, they’re transparent with the products that they have with their labeling and they keep track with the best buy and expiration dates. It’s just like if you went to a traditional store if you were going there to see what the products were about.

AM: That’s good to know. Do you have any tips on how we can make sure that we are not overindulging as it’s so tough with so many events going on!

TW: Yes! There are so many temptations and I feel for everybody on that! Three tips on that:

• When you do go to that holiday party, try to stick to water if you can. The high-calorie drinks and the alcohol will really add to that overindulgence.

• Keep up with your exercise. 15 minutes a day off of your fitness app is a great way to start.

• When you do go to those holiday parties, beforehand try to eat a healthy snack which will take the edge off. You can try carrots and nuts or bananas and yogurt.

For those who are adults, if you have overindulged, you can try probiotics to help you. According to research, at the Medical University of Warsaw that probiotics can help the digestion and can move things along. I suggest the California Gold Nutrition LactoBif 100 Probiotics that has 8 active and clinical probiotic strains. A tip for probiotics is to check the expiration dates which is something that iHerb does really well. They closely monitor those best buy and expiration dates. They also have air-conditioned warehouses to keep the products fresh and to maintain high-quality standards.

AM: This is year-round, but during this time of year with increased activities, how important is it to get good sleep for your health?

TW: It can reduce your stress and increase your energy which are two great benefits to being mindful of this. A quick tip is to wind down each evening which means that you should turn down the lights and turn off all of your electronics. Maybe you should do some yoga and meditation – or you can read a book. There is a wellness trend that you can use essential oils for relaxation. An example of an oil, is NOW Peppermint Essential Oil. You can research which essential oil works best for you and you can search and find which ones are best on iHerb.com. They’re focused on quality and they make it easy to order and find products. They have state of the art distribution facilities that are GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certified and all of that means that they are going to maintain the product quality!

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

BACK TO THE HILLS WITH WHITNEY PORT

This summer, many of us enjoyed seeing The Hills: New Beginnings which brought back our favorite reality stars from The Hills as well as new castmembers to continue this MTV classic. One of our faves that we have interviewed previously on Athleisure Mag is back on the show, Whitney Port. We wanted to know more about her decision to bring her personal life back to the screen, projects she's working on and how she continues to lead a normal and full life even when a migraine hits!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Like many, we were glad to see you in the reboot of MTV The Hills Beginnings. We were fans of the original and loved you on this current season. What was it like for you to come back and what was your decision to do so?

WHITNEY PORT: I honestly wasn’t so sure about it at first. I was nervous to come back and to put my life and everything going on with my family back on TV. Then I just thought, it sounds fun, I’m in a good place with everybody and why not reconnect and give people something that’s nostalgic and something that they enjoyed watching. I do think that I had some nervousness about not knowing what people were going to be like or to start – you never know with Reality TV people. Are they just going to start drama out of nowhere? You have to be nervous and you have to have your guard up a little bit. But ultimately, I felt that the show was a huge part of my life and that it was a platform that allowed me to do everything that I do now so I thought, “why not?”

AM: Well it was so fun to see you again and are there other projects that you have going on that we should keep an eye out for?

WP: Yes for sure! Today, I’m talking about Excedrin Migraine – not that it’s a project, but this condition is something that I have suffered with for quite awhile. I feel that it’s my duty to talk about Excedrin because it’s the one thing that I can do to make them go away so that I can be present and can take care of all the things that I want to do and am passionate about, you know? It can be hard, especially as a mom, when you’re hit by one. Recording my podcast or my collection with Rent the Runway coming out in April – so there all these exciting things that I want to do that are dreams, goals and passions and keeping myself healthy and that I’m migraine free is really important to me.

AM: There are a lot of people that suffer with them. Do you have certain kinds of triggers that kick in with you that you know that it’s going to happen? What makes a migraine so different then a regular headache?

WP: I mean a migraine is all consuming. I start to not be able to see straight, I get sweaty palms, a lack of energy, I just get a pounding pain in my head and when these things start to happen – I know it’s coming. If I can drink a full glass of water, take my Excedrin and get a little protein in me those are usually the things that help them to go away before it gets to a place where I just can’t handle it.

AM: Why did you decide to partner with Excedrin and why is it so good for migraine conditions?

WP: I decided to partner because it’s what I was taking. I talk about my migraine issues on my podcast and on my social. I would talk about Excedrin and that it was something that helped. Naturally, they reached out and said that they wanted to work together because they saw that it was something that was a part of my life in a big way. In terms of what is in it – I’m not a doctor. But I know that what is in there with its ingredients that when it comes together it’s combined strength allows me to function!

AM: In terms of your partnership with Excedrin, what does your partnership look like with them whether they are things on your social, events etc?

WP: You can read my blog post on WhitneyPort.com to find out how I use it and how other people should use it as well.

AM: As someone who is so busy, as a mom, wife, entrepreneur and Reality Star, what are 3 things that you like to do to take time for yourself?

WP: A couple of things I do for myself are: I take a hot yoga class. It changes my whole mood and it’s an hour to myself where I am sweating out so much – I’m energized and I’m ready to get back to the grind on my career as well as being a mom! I am a huge proponent of massages! I know that they are a luxury, but I use the App Soothe which comes to your house. Once I put Sonny down for the night, I will order a massage and it’s pretty affordable and I don’t have to leave the house and can do it while Sonny is sleeping. You can tell the therapist that you have a migraine issue and they can work on certain areas to help like around the jaw, head or neck. Then, another thing is just trying my best to fill my body with things that are going to be good fuel for it instead of just empty calories. I drink these really good smoothies from Kreation that have turmeric, Kreation Juice, coconut and all of these good anti-inflammatory type things. I try not to eat a lot of processed sugar and I try to have a healthy dose of greens everyday and definitely meat, protein etc. My husband in the morning before my yoga will scramble me 2 eggs with a little grated cheddar in there for some extra protein. I think that physical activity, something luxurious and feeding your body with good stuff will set you up for success. Also taking time to just listen to good music and taking some deep breaths can make a big difference. A lot of us have a commute whether it’s in cars or buses – putting in my earpods, listening to some calming music and taking some deep breaths can really ground me and put me back into a present mind space.

IG @WhitneyPort

Read the Nov Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Back to the Hills with Whitney Port in mag.

KATHERINE SCHWARZENEGGER PRATT TALKS PETS AND THE HOLIDAY SEASON

With the holiday schedule in full swing, we have been juggling events, getting the perfect gifts, taking some me time and more. We pretty much have everything thought out. But are we thinking about our pets? How are we ensuring that our four-legged friends are being taken care of when we travel, when we have more people over and how we incorporate them into our holiday cards? We chatted with Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt to get her advice on how she would go about this!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Can you tell us about pet adoption and why that is so important to you?

KATHERINE SCHWARZENEGGER PRATT: Pet adoption is an incredible gift in my life and has been such a treasure in my life to be able to have rescued my dog Maverick. I was introduced to that world after I graduated from college and I decided to foster some puppies. I had never done that before and my sister and I decided to do that around the holiday in order to help a local rescue organization to take care of some dogs over the holiday season. It was such an incredible experience for me and when I got my final foster puppy, which was Maverick. I had a foster failure as they call it and decided to rescue him and made the decision to adopt him. It’s been such a blessing in my life to be introduced to others as well as the incredible world of animal rescue is a cause that I am really passionate about and feel really lucky to be involved in.

AM: Do you have any advice for pet parents that will be away from home for the holiday season or who will have a lot of people over with their pets there as well? Are there things that they should look out for?

KSP: For sure the comfort and well being of your pet is something to be aware of. Be mindful of the holiday season. A lot of people have others that come to their house and you want to make sure that you have a space where your dog feels comfortable and safe is super important. When you are traveling, be willing to have someone that is trusted and that you know that they will take really good care of your dog. This is also really important. I remember the first time that I was going out of town and I had to leave Maverick, it was really stressful for me. To be able to have someone that you feel really comfortable with and that your dog Is really comfortable with is really important – especially during the holiday season.

AM: What are some gifts or ideas that we should keep in mind when it comes to gifting our pets or giving to someone who has one?

KSP: The amount of outfits that I have my eye on from Petco this holiday season is pretty embarrassing. I love the matching pajamas because I can do a full photoshoot with Maverick under the Christmas Tree. My sister and I have done it ever since our very first Christmas with Maverick. I’m really excited about all of these holiday sweaters that are at Petco. The matching pajamas are going to be something that I think are going to be a huge hit this holiday season. Obviously, they also have these incredible plush toys and treats. There’s a huge wide range of gifts at Petco – but I’m all about that pajama set.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

DON'T LET COLD AND FLU SEASON KNOCK YOU DOWN; TRY THESE 5 NATURAL REMEDIES

Cold and flu season are upon us, that time of year when body aches, fever, chills and nasal congestion combine and can stop you in your tracks, leaving you bedridden for days.

Statistics show that the flu annually sickens millions of Americans, kills tens of thousands, and results in billions of dollars in medical expenses and sick days.

“Complications arising from the flu can become serious,” says Dr. Suhyun An, an expert on regenerative medicine and co-author of Demystifying Stem Cells: A Real-Life Approach To Regenerative Medicine.

“If you still have symptoms after seven to 10 days, be sure to make an appointment with your doctor. If any of your symptoms include difficulty breathing, a rapid heartbeat, or feeling faint, or if you experience other severe symptoms like a high fever, seek immediate medical assistance.”

Dr. An says there are ways to prevent the symptoms from reaching that serious point. To feel better and get back on your feet, she recommends numerous natural cold and flu remedies to alleviate your symptoms:

Vitamin C. Some studies indicate that Vitamin C can shorten the lifespan of a cold and boost your immune system. “The best way to get it is through your diet; the fresher the food, the better,” Dr. An says. “Oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruits, leafy greens, and bell peppers are all good sources of vitamin C. Be careful with supplements because they can lead to upset stomach and kidney stones.”

Honey. Honey has natural antiviral and antimicrobial properties. “Drinking honey in tea with lemon can ease sore throat pain,” Dr. An says. “Research suggests that honey is an effective cough suppressant, too. Honey often contains Clostridium bacteria, so never give honey to a child younger than 1-year-old because infants’ immune systems aren’t able to fight them off.”

Chicken soup. This popular cold and flu remedy helps because hot liquids reduce mucus buildup and keep you hydrated. “Chicken soup, in particular, has anti-inflammatory properties, which help reduce a cold’s unpleasant side effects,” Dr. An says. “Keep some in the freezer or even canned for flu season. It’s quick to prepare that way and soothing to eat.”

Aromas. “When you have congestion from the flu, applying camphor or menthol salve around your nose can help break up mucus,” Dr. An says. “Aromatherapy oils, such as peppermint and eucalyptus, can have a similar effect. Also, vapor rub can reduce cold symptoms, especially in children older than 2 years. It helps open air passages to combat congestion, reduce coughing, and improve sleep. It’s a good alternative to over-the-counter cold medicines in young children because of unwanted side effects.”

Probiotics. These are friendly bacteria and yeast found in the body, some foods, and supplements. “They can help keep your gut and immune system healthy, and they may reduce your chance of getting sick with an upper respiratory infection,” Dr. An says. “For a delicious and nutritious source of helpful bacteria, include probiotic yogurt in your diet.”

“Colds and the flu are threats to us every year, but they don’t have to get us down for long,” Dr. An says. “Natural home remedies can reduce symptoms so you can be more comfortable and get the rest you need to get better faster.”

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

HIGHER ART & GOOD EATS WITH RON SILVER

We head to the studio office of Ron SIlver's restaurant, Bubby's in the Meat Packing District. Bubby's also located in Tribeca as well as 6 outposts in Japan and is known for its comfort foods. We found out about how he created one of the quintessential destinations for brunch with his passion for great food and keeping it simple. We also talked about how his interests and passions in CBD and THC that led him to create Azuca which compliments food as well as the love for creating art which you can see in his restaurants as well as his show in Mexico City.

ATHLEISURE MAG: So what was the moment that you realized that you wanted to be a chef?

RON SILVER: I would say that there were multiple moments where I realized that I wanted to be a chef. One of the things is that when I was a little kid, I realized that I loved to cook and part of that was because it was mischief – it was fire and knives. So, I take to mischief very well and then I would say another small thing was that my mother took my $5/a week allowance from me and I went to get a job washing dishes. That was $80/a week so that was another realization that was my spot. I washed dishes for a long time.

AM: So when did you wash dishes?

RS: When I was 13.

AM: Ok!

RS: And I washed dishes until I was 21 in and out.

AM: That was a long time to wash dishes.

RS: I liked washing dishes – I did other things in between. I was washing dishes in Alta Ski Resort and I wiped out and broke my rib, I was out for 6 weeks. So I decided during that time that I would be a chef. So I think that was when I really decided to go for it when I was 21.

AM: So what were all the places that you went to in terms of culinary school or restaurants that you worked for prior to coming up with Bubby’s?

RS: I worked for some hotels for awhile and then I moved to Atlanta because I lived in Salt Lake and there wasn’t any real good dining there. I moved to Atlanta and worked for some of the best restaurants in Atlanta and I was offered a scholarship to the Culinary Institute but I did a quick cocktail mathematics and realized that I couldn’t afford that scholarship and didn’t go to school. I moved to NY when I was 24/25 and just worked my way up and I opened Bubby’s when I was 28.

AM: What made you realize that you wanted to open this up and to create this kind of cuisine here?

RS: Well the style of cuisine in the 80s was really weird, nouvelle cuisine with small plates and small portions and I wanted a place that really had good home cooking and large portions on small plates. I really just wanted to cook the food that I wanted to eat.

AM: What’s the average day like for you, being at Bubby’s?

RS: I’ve been running Bubby’s for a long time, 28 years - so my average day at Bubby’s, I am sort of regimented about how I do what I do. I go to Tribeca and have a coffee and go around and talk to everybody. I go around and kind of see if things are looking good and then I come up to Highline and I do the same thing and then I come up here to my office and I’m a painter. So that’s what I want to do when I come up here, is paint. Once I know that everything is kind of locked down, I can paint. I am also in the cannabis business.

AM: We’re going to get that too as well. So you have the 2 restaurants here and the ones in Japan as well.

RS: Yes, 6!

AM: How do you decide where the next place will be for your restaurant and the community that it serves?

RS: Well I suppose that the world decides for me. I’m not a business person really. So the Japanese people called me 10 years ago and I was like, “there’s no way that I’m doing that” and then we were having lunch the next day and I was walking around the space about a week later. I don’t really make a plan.

AM: Do you think that you would create another concept that is outside of Bubby’s that’s something different?

RS: It’s a good question. I don’t have a lot of reason to do that, but at the same time, I do come up with a lot of ideas that are interesting sometimes so I think that the jury is still out on that.

AM: We were at the Specialty Food Show here in NYC and we saw Azuca. We know that you launched it last year. Can you tell us more about why you are in this space and what made you want to create this?

RS: I’ve been in cannabis space since I have been washing dishes really. So, I’ve smoked weed since I was a kid - like everyone in the kitchen does. I think what really inspired me to get into this business was that I felt that I really had something to offer it. Maybe 6 years ago, I discovered that there was a very large problem which is how cannabis edibles deliver. So I really set up to solve that problem in that regard. I was able to make really good progress with that. In a way, it sort of fell in my lap, but I did a ton of research.

AM: What did you initially launch and are there more launches for this year?

RS: So what we have is a technology really. Azuca is a cannabinoid edibles technology and what that means is that it allows edibles to be consumed in an understandable way which is helpful for people who want to take cannabis or CBD or also for people who want to make edibles. We’re very much in the business of helping people understand cannabis edibles.

AM: What are your plans for that looking at the rest of this year and going into next year?

RS: Well, we’re working with some of the biggest cannabis companies in the country and we’re just getting started with those guys. We are selling CBD, edibles – like our sugar Azuca packs which will be available online and in stores soon. We have THC edibles in Massachusetts with a partner up there and we are also talking to people and other countries about CBD stuff.

AM: You’re also a painter. How long have you been painting and what is it about that that draws you to that form of creativity?

RS: I’ve always been an artist and I started Bubby’s so that I could make art. I can’t really answer what draws me to it. I know that if I don’t do it, I get very crappy.

AM: How many paintings do you create a day?

RS: It depends. I am always working on something. At the moment, I’m doing it on paper which is a little quicker than oil paint. So then all these paper things will be mounted on fabric so that is going to be a big job. I can paint a bunch of things it’s just going to take forever to get them mounted.

AM: Will you ever or have you ever been in a gallery?

RS: I had a show in Mexico City in August.

AM: Wow how exciting! How many pieces were in that show and were you nervous?

RS: 40 pieces and yes it was my first show!

AM: Congratulations! What are 3 signature dishes that we should eat when we come to Bubby’s?

RS: Well the Fried Chicken and pancakes, that’s a thing to eat, we have really good Watermelon Lemonade – that’s a thing to drink and the biscuits! Well the burgers are great too!

AM: When you’re not painting and you’re not focused on Azuca and Bubby’s – what are 3 things that we could find you doing in terms of relaxing and getting your athleisure on?

RS: Smoking bong hits, reading and I have 4 kids.

AM: Do you have any philanthropic efforts that you are a part of that you would like to share?

RS: Bubby’s does a lot of philanthropy. We give stuff to people all the time and support a number of things like New York City's oldest men’s shelter - New York City Rescue Mission. Azuca will have a huge amount of social stuff to do because the cannabis business is very ripe for a lot of different opportunities for a lot of different people who deserve them and don’t have them. So we’re very focused on how we are going to sort of set our company up so that it is incorporating the social aspects of things that we need. Especially the War on Drugs that has been particularly hard on brown people and we’re very much focused on making sure that we’re staying aware of creating opportunities almost in an artificial way. We’re getting a lot of help thinking about that and it’s the biggest deal. In setting up our company it’s run by women and my CEO as well as everyone in the company really has a deep moral compass. I think the jury is out on how we are going to be helpful. Not just philanthropically but also responsible and opportunity creating way. Philanthropy is great, but I think it’s a lot of challenge to create actual opportunity and we’re very much so focused on that.

AM: What legacy do you look to leave behind with all of the fingerprints that you have put down on all these areas?

RS: That is a tough question. I hope that I leave something behind that my kids are part of and something that continues to do good work after I’m gone and maybe I hope to leave behind a bunch of beautiful stuff.

IG @Bubbys

You can hear Ron Silver right now on our show, Athleisure Kitchen which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

Read the September Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Higher Art & Good Eats with Ron Silver in mag.

SUBCONSCIOUSLY SPEAKING WITH KIMBERLY FRIEDMUTTER

At Athleisure Mag, we've always been about the integration of mind x body x soul . We headed to the Ritz Carlton here in NYC to talk with Kimberly Friedmutter about her new book Subconscious Power: Use Your Inner Mind to Create the Life You've Always Wanted as well as her work as a Celebrity Hypnotherapist, the purpose and power of the subconscious, and how we can optimize these tools through all aspects of our lives.

ATHLEISURE MAG: So those that are not familiar with hypnotism, can you tell us what it is and what it entails?

KIMBERLY FRIEDMUTTER: Hypnosis is really a state of relaxation and a deep state at times. I’ve literally had clients snoring and drooling and I have had others that have stared back at me, but they are relaxed. It’s just different levels – just to explain that. So when people say what is trance and is it putting me in positions and a place that I don’t want to do – like when people see it in terms of being used for entertainment or in the movies with a swinging watch – that’s not what it is.

It’s a natural state of being for example, when you first wake up and you have that floaty feeling, that’s trance. When you’re just getting ready to drift off to sleep and you’re not really conscious, but not really unconscious, that’s trance. It’s basically setting the conscious thought aside, so that you’re more suggestable and more open to other things. Now this is also why people abuse drugs, they like that feeling and when you can do that naturally, it’s wonderful and you don’t have to use substances to get there as it is this beautiful natural state that we possess. Think of it in terms of when you’re watching a film and you know that the actors are the actors, but you shed a tear anyway. You’re emotionally caught up in it, they have entranced you. Or it’s like when you’re at a concert and everyone is waving their hands in sync with their phones on flame and your favorite entertainer hits the high note and everyone is in this moment of a euphoric feeling. You’re so relaxed that you feel like you’re having this out of body experience.

AM: Wow, sometimes we have taken a yoga/meditation class and when you are coming back from the meditation part, you sometimes do feel a little floaty and outside of yourself.

KF: Right and you are in a trance in meditation. Now the difference between meditation and hypnosis is simply that meditation is the zoning in on thought or in on non-thought. For example, “think of the breath, don’t think thoughts.” Whereas, trance is let it all come and zone out. So the zoning out is likening it to day dreaming. When you daydream, you’re not monitoring day dreams. You’re just letting it flow and that flow is trance as opposed to meditation where you’re linearly guiding something through to happen or not happen.

AM: How did you begin working in this field and how did you educate yourself on it?

KF: I would like to say that education really formed this structure where I sit. But really it’s the clients who really gave me the breadth of knowledge – getting in there and really exploring. I had a radio talk show in LA on KLSX 97.1 FM and it was the only FM talk station at the time. It was considered the Howard Stern Station at the time as that is where he was projecting from at the time. This was simply continuing education for the radio show and previous to that, I had been hypnotized for a lot of times for stage fright.

AM: Wow

KF: I know! I wanted to shrink in instead of shrink out! I didn’t want that to be an issue so I was a product of hypnosis and I thought, “wow is that all there really is too it?” In our society, we are taught “no pain, no gain”, “no guts, no glory” and it’s absolutely not the truth. So I thought, let’s see what happens and now you can’t shut me up – I’m all over the place! Clearly, I’m healed!

AM: So it had long term effects!

KF: Oh yeah, it can be the only thing you ever want to do if you want it to be. I happen to take direction well which is also why some people ask why I focus on high performing professionals and individuals that have really made a name for themselves in the world. The reason is exactly that – they will do it and they take direction well. They look for information from others and are not arguing their position or limitation which is very important.

AM: Is it hard for a Type A person to release their control to do that?

KF: No because Type A’s are Seekers, Searchers, Learners. Type A’s are out their for the game and out their to win it. They’re out there to succeed.

AM: Right a very – by any means necessary thought.

KF: Well when you say it that way, it comes off as it’s something that’s surgical and invasive and it’s not. It’s 100% organic, 100% natural and 100% sustainable. You are literally able to keep it private because it’s in your mind and you don’t have to telescope it out. The thing is we all have that search for inner peace and inner happiness and we all deeply know what that takes to get there. We have the answers – we really do. Hypnosis just gives you that little prod and permission that it’s ok to release those things and feel those things.

My husband was hypnotized for 20 minutes and he’s an architect – everything is very linear with him and it's all about facts.

Everything is very structured, planned and conscious this comes from your conscious. The subconscious is touchy feely and is all about your emotions. So he was hypnotized for 20 mins and he lost 60lbs. Now that’s that kind of character because he’s a Seeker, Searcher, Learner person that’s Type A and an architect.

My book is listed in the top 10 of what every lawyer should read. It’s the Top 25 books that America’s leading CEO’s are reading. So it does have this very interesting crossover with men in business. It’s a great gift for men and a great gift for boys coming up to learn – particularly the Get to Give chapter – I’m happy to point out. It’s not a gender specific book and there are very good principles in each chapter to read. I like to stress that because men really do get it and it does provide transformative changes in them too. Women like to corner intuition because we say, “women’s intuition” that we’re so smart and we use our gut, but the truth is that we all have that machinery and we all have that mechanism. It’s a beautiful thing and we do want to have our partner, your brother, our uncle to rise up to this. When we’re all going the same speed on the freeway, we can all do the same things and not be hampered by the one that doesn’t.

AM: So you were talking about how people can use this for weight loss –

KF: Yes and for sleep issues, anxiety and depression. Here’s the thing about hypnosis and trance is that it doesn’t have to be just for a problem. We’ve freed it and loosened it from it’s chains of being attached to a problem. It can also be out amplifying things that you do well to be better. So athletic performance for example. Performance such as something that I am doing with CNBC for entrepreneurs and CEOs which is also for performance-based things that you want to enhance or amplify.

AM: Hearing this now gives me an interesting perspective on what you do. Coming in, we were thinking of it from that 1800s parlor trick but learning that it’s a tool that can be used to optimize and oxygenate what you’re looking to enhance is really interesting.

KF: I love how you said that the 2 “O” words. This is what I say, if I brought in this fine piece of machinery and I sat it down in front of us and said here’s the plug, the machine and the manual – you’re going to take the book and to read how to use it. You have it and I’m not selling you the thing – you have it. You can’t get a surgery to get it, I can’t take it, you have what you have and you can’t get rid of it. So it’s about plugging in your mechanism and using your resources. The thing is, we’re all interested in ourselves and we all want an easy, happy life. How do we get there? So so simple. We have the mechanism and the ability to do it – it’s the use of it that we don’t know. All of our finest technology and software and beautiful things – nothing comes close to the mind. You take it with you, it’s packaged, it’s compact, it weighs 3lbs, it’s 4x4 and off you go. You don’t have to pack it – you won’t forget it. Science will say that you have it from the point on conception to the time you transition – some believe that it will just go on. That’s what I have the Soul/Spiritual section in here about Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. You’ll see that I have terrific blurbs from Jennifer Hudson and Martha Stewart, Michael Beckwith (he actually married me to the architect because he was a pastor because I was an agape taker) – so I had a lot of Hollywood support for this. They get it and they’re so creative. They’re interesting and they have big lives and a lot of times, big problems and no different from the rest of us as we have the same issues, we’re just watching them because the focus is on the high performing individual.

So the whole thing is just so simple to use. Like finding lost items around the house – who wants that – in the home or in the office. Even in an email. I was trying to find it before I was talking with you and I said to my husband that I couldn’t find it and he was asking me if it was there and I said, “I can’t find it in this state.” He’s thinking that I couldn’t find it in my phone or in my device. I knew that in the state I was in I couldn’t find it and even a device will fritz out when you’re in that state with all that frantic energy – it doesn’t jive when you’re like that. You need to adjust yourself or to stop looking. I calmed myself down and then I was able to find it. I needed to find it in the state of the love of it and not the problem of it. It’s about the find of it and not the loss of it. The truth is, it’s not lost – it’s in there.

AM: Ooo that’s interesting that you say that. Our Co-Founder, when he gets in that frazzled state, nothing will turn on in terms of electronics. So we have to either move our technology out of the room –

KF: Or him.

AM: Or him and we just say, calm down to get everything settled again. The joke is that he’s like a Marvel character or superhero. So there must be some kind of kinetic thing going on there.

KF: Oh it’s energy. So here’s what happens. Anything that works on energy, works on energy. Anything that works on energy, fries out when it’s too much. We had an interesting and scary incident where a camera would have caught this and the camera did not catch it. It’s a wireless system and the camera caught our dog groomer that was going inside and outside of the house and you could see the dog as well, but it didn’t catch the event. I didn’t bring my phone and I didn’t worry about it because I knew the camera was catching the whole thing. What did I come to find out? It didn’t. So that gives great pause to energy. It’s about keeping it cool and it shows you that life won’t work with that kind of energy.

Again, to make your life easy like finding great parking spaces, when you meet with someone getting to know if they are good for you in the short/long term that you meet them – think of the time savings alone and what you have access to. We have a far-reaching ability to ascertain this information and impressions to get access to that even a blind person can do it.

The conscious mind thinks that way you are instructing it to do; however, the subconscious is doing the imagery and the big picture portion of what is going on. When we’re children, we’re very tapped into our subconscious and we also tend to sit within our primal state as well – sometimes kids bite other kids and they haven’t learned that they can’t do that. In the book, I talk about that as we get older, we learn and educate ourselves outside of the subconscious, so when we go to work and someone annoys us, we don’t bite our colleagues in the elevator.

AM: So what made you create this book?

KF: I was approached by a woman at Harper Collins. She asked if I would do this as she had seen me online and head learned about my practice. I said absolutely and in getting the group together and figuring out the structure of the book, it took me about a year to take my practice and to see what was digestible and what could be chewed on. By the time I handed in my proposal to her, she had left Harper Collins. The agent thought that it was interesting and agreed to put it on the market to see what it could do. Simon & Schuster wanted it and Atria Books was the publishing/imprinting house that did The Secret. The beauty about The Secret was that there was a feeling that yes we could emit this desire to get whatever it is that we desire. Part in part is where my gift comes from but the real question is where is this being emitted from? It’s coming from your mind and no one debates that. It’s very well studied and science is all over that and the subconscious mind and has been forever as you had mentioned with the hypnosis.

The reality is that if you're stuck and have an addiction to food, shopping or even an addiction to someone, there is an exercise in the book called the Saver/Sever where if you have this over attachment to a person, place or thing you can literally call it before you and you can detach from that thing so that you’re no longer this prisoner of that attachment. Some people when I ask them to see that Energetic Core, some people see this beautiful wisps of energy and some people see chains or rope – true bondage to that thing. Cyber Stalking is one of those things where you just can’t not do it sometimes. Those are the perfect candidates for those exercises. Those are some of the little hacks and one of the things that I’m very proud of with the book is that you don’t need a pen and paper and I wanted to make it super easy because we don’t have a lot of time and I call them Shelf Help books. Because you feel a lot better because you bought it and you’re like, “ok healed and you put it on the shelf.” But the reality is, I want you to have that manual for your machinery – you already have it, but this is just the how to guide on how to manage it. The reality is, we want to do things with our lives that makes things easier for us. Knowing and getting those impulses – you think of a friend and they give you a call. Or you get an email from that person or you give a call to someone and they say, “oh you were on my mind this morning.” All that is energy and that is the place that we’re talking about with this. Your consciousness is your task maker and your calendar keeper for the day. The subconscious is your inner child the part that you haven’t unlearned yet. The unlearning process is what makes us cranky, crass, disappointed, depressed and anxious. There is a chapter in the book called Tonkas and Tutus and it’s about putting that Tutu back on because that’s where it belongs and I do that as a gift of action. You realize that we are meant to be these beautiful, shining and magnificent creatures of light – you realize that you have that inner self that is clawing to get out and wants that light to be turned on.

AM: Do you envision doing another book?

KF: Yes we’re already working on it now. The first book that you drop, as I’m a first-time author – is your cornerstone. It’s the base information and from there, we fly – we fly.

PHOTO COURTESY | Dreamstime/Helgardas

AM: So what are the 6 principles that ignite the conscious mind and can you walk us through that?

KF: Sure. The first one is Coming into Accountability and that’s the first step, I think of everything that is meaningful. We need to know where we are – even on maps, it says location. So the first principle is really about your location and so I want you to be able to look at yourself holistically and for real – warts and all we say. The reality is that we can’t do the work until we know what it is. I don’t even like calling it work because it feels so effortless. The second principle is Tapping into Your Subconscious which is obvious and a lot of people don't understand how powerful it is and how much of it that you have. I'm here to tell you that you you’re right. When you think of Aunt Sue and she calls you – you have to see consciously that you are right to understand the power of your subconscious. The third principle is Do You Move Toward or Away? Now I like this one a lot because it is about orientation. You have coming into accountability, your tapping into your subconscious – where is your orientation? So going back to maps again, you would orient towards the direction that you want to go. You do not plug into maps that you want to go away from where you just were. So when it says, where are you heading to, you don’t say I’m headed away from Point A, you say, I am going to Point B so when you’re constantly l ooking at your life in retrospect, and you see that you have been flinging yourself away from circumstances, chances are you’re flinging into something of the unknown which is ok. But if you’re not happy where you are, that very well could be the reason why as opposed to focusing on where you want to go. Orientation of self is hugely important. The next one is, and this is sticky, and they throw their hands up - It’s Judge Thy Neighbor as Thyself. The point of this that we have let our judgement go by the wayside just like we don’t bite our girlfriend when she makes us mad. In this, I say that you must use ecology of judgment for yourself. Once you talk to someone who is unhappy, once you explore a bit of someone’s chronic unhappiness they will say that they used this mistake in judgement and that mistake. Look at Judge Judy. I talk a lot about her in the book. Not only is she magnificent, but the show itself garners so much attention, and why, because the show shows us did you use the best judgment for your ecology, your survival, your success, etc – that’s all she wants to show. Did you use good judgement and those judgements that she calls simply comes down to who used good judgement and who didn’t. Sometimes the thing that happened the person didn't have something unlawful, but they didn’t use good judgement and she fines them anyway. So she’s going to teach you out of your own issue. So judgement is super important and I show you how to do that and I show you how to judge energetically. When you meet someone are they good for me in the midterm, short term and long term? Also a judgement about privacy. Let’s be a bit particular about the who, what, when, where and why please. It’s helpful about that beautiful 8 year old person that’s inside of you. If you had a physical 8 year old next to you, would you look at the things that you look at, would you listen to the things that you listen to, hang out with the people that you would hang out with, go to the places that you go to – I think not. We really think that we’re big stuff, but we’re just that beautiful 8 year old creature inside and we need to use the ecology of judgement for him/her. The next one that people love is Give to Get. This is that energetic cycle, that loop. So if I hold both of your hands, you and I form a loop and energy is running through your body back to my body – if we let go and you stretch your arm out, it doesn’t have any place to go to generate or to recirculate. So if you give to me and I’m not giving back, then you’re not getting back anything and vice versa. Even the tomato plant does this. It grows, it falls off the vine and dies and it becomes fertilizer for the next new plant. Giving and getting is a universal law. Women are the worst at getting because they don’t want to say it and they just continue to give to such a point that it takes us into the next chapter which is Drought. When a women is in drought, I ask what kind of a giver/getter are you? Are you getting and giving? Sometimes the people who don’t get or the least to give – there has to be a flow of energy that flows in and flows out. I read something the other day that there was a popular phrase that said “cash is king” and now it's "cashflow is king" because anything that flows is king. Flow keeps us going. If I get, I distribute that to you, if you get then you distribute to me. It’s this movement that we’re in and once again, it’s this universal law that we’re in. I didn’t make it up, I just recognize it as a law of happiness.

When people ask, I am married to a very generous husband, an architect and what is great about that is that he understands flow. People ask, how did I get what I got and I say, I asked, I made it known. He’s not a psychic. The last principle is Play Big. You deserve to get and you deserve to give. The idea of playing big is not posturing and puffing it’s show up for me and show up for you. The reality is that we all need each other. We’re in a time of social collective consciousness which is fine, but then we must rise from it. In that it’s go for your dreams. Playing big honors that creative thing that you want to do regardless of whether you’re coming from a field like being an attorney and realizing that you want to become a writer. Just because you started out one way doesn’t mean that you have to stay that way and not become what you are meant to do. So show up for that thing that you’re meant to do and then get on with it. When you get to that chapter and that final principle – then you’re ready because the other clutter is gone.

AM: What is your day to day like?

KF: Well, I’m basically a home type body, but I travel a lot so I make it home wherever I go. The traveling is a lot of fun so I try to do zones. When I’m on the East Coast, I reach out and contact to as many people as I want to book or to group it all in. We do it in Europe as well. I like to be accessible and I don’t like to say no. I’d rather say yes and then figure out how to make it work out. The other side especially with Brad and his business is that we clump things together. So the minute that I have go time over here, then he will book his things and that's how we do it. He has offices all over the world. It makes it easy to do that. There’s a few emergencies here and there, but now with FaceTime and Google – I can literally do that all day long. When you have your clients, seeing things is great because you have all of those micromovements. I’m an expert at determining what is going on. I use the term diagnose loosely – not as a medical diagnosis. It’s easy for me to see the issues as it rises up off the page so prominently that that’s my super power – the ability to see what’s going on and to be able to get it at the cellular level. Many times, I am able to just think it to get there and I like getting the confirmation.

AM: I know you’re based in LA and in Las Vegas. Where can we find you grabbing a meal/drink, working out and shopping?

KF: In Las Vegas, it would probably be Cipriani (Wynn) or more likely home. Because home – I’m a homebody. Any philanthropic event we’d probably be at. So when people say, do you go out on the strip – yes for charity events and probably only for that. If we’re having dinner or things like that, it’s probably at home. We eat super clean and I cook a lot. It’s super simple to cook like that and I do pride myself that I went to chef school when I was modeling in Europe – a night school for that. I did that because I wasn’t the clubby type to go out to meet people. In LA, we like the Waldorf Astoria. We’re at The Ivy on Robertson all the time – we love it there. Malibu of course is great and we love Nobu, I used to live there before I met Brad.

When it comes to shopping, I love Norma Kamali here in NY I was just there and was so excited. So Norma walked in and we had our little visit and it was so great and now she’s holding the book. She has a new skincare line that’s out, it’s cleanser, scrub, tanner and moisturizer. Can I just say that the moisturizer is made out of olive oil and lime and not the fruit – the mineral kind. Never have I felt something so emollient so I’m going to order that for sure as I was running in. The smell, fragrance and feel was extraordinary. Shopping there is my favorite thing.

I work out a few hours a day. I do True Fusion which is a pilates/yoga hybrid. The gal who teaches it and does it with me – we have a neighborhood group of ladies that do it. I also do heavy weight training which is a surprise to most. I like it because it really does keep me feeling in survival mode. It’s a gentleman that does it who is a body builder type. I like to be a strong girl a strong female. When we work out like that – it makes everything like blow drying your hair and going to the potty a challenge – where your muscles touch anything. It’s a great feeling. In the morning my husband and I we both walk around a 3 mile loop with our 20lb weights on – we walk it fast – it can be a 3 hour thing. Mind/Body is important. My husband’s trajectory of his day changes when he does it in the morning. Connecting with nature is something that your body and mind needs. We start early in the morning because if we didn’t we wouldn’t get it in.

I have a lot of weight loss clients right now and it’s not because it’s summer it’s because we’re fat to the point that we are upset with ourselves. A client will say, I’m stressed – I eat, I travel – I eat, I have a child – I eat, I have a job – I eat, I’m out of money – I eat. So every reason comes down to, I eat, I eat, I eat and it’s not that. That’s all the more reason that we have to be ready, be the warrior, having to be fit. You have to say, I’m going after this with everything that I have and that mind/body connection is that. I’m a big believer that you can’t work off an unhealthy diet. You’ll hear me say that the kitchen is the gym. You can eat to a good body or eat to a bad body.

IG @KimFriedmutter

PHOTO CREDITS | Kimberly Friedmutter

PHOTO COURTESY | Dreamstime/Jacques Kloppers

You can hear Kimberly Friedmutter later this month on our show, BUNGALOW SK which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

Read the August Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Subconsciously Speaking with Kimberly Friedmutter in mag.

3 WAYS TO NATURALLY MANAGE YOUR HANGOVERS

With 40% of American adults regularly consuming an excessive amount of alcohol, it’s no question as to what will most likely follow - a hangover. No matter what the occasion may be, there’s nothing wrong with a drink or two now and again - though, when you get carried away, you may suffer the consequences of a hangover and it’s dreaded symptoms the next morning. With that said, you might be surprised at the options out there when it comes to managing a hangover naturally.

No more nausea

Hangovers are well known for their unpleasant symptoms like fatigue, and while that may seem manageable with a good night's rest, other symptoms like nausea and vomiting can often be unbearable. For nausea, the best natural hangover cure may just involve ginger. Popular in Chinese medicine, the root is believed to contain chemicals that influence the digestive and nervous systems that prevent nausea. Not only that, but it’s also known for its warming properties, which are thought to help stimulate metabolism (thus, enhancing the detoxification process), and can be found in many forms - lozenges, teas, and extracts, to name a few. 

Curing dehydration with coconuts

When it comes to avoiding a hangover, one of the best tried and true methods for doing so is to keep the drinking to a minimum, or to abstain from partaking at all. However, in the event that you do drink too much, you might end up dehydrated. This is mainly due to the fact that alcohol is a diuretic - meaning, you’ll lose more fluid than you take in when drinking it. While water can easily be called the natural cure for dehydration, it’s important to keep in mind that it isn’t enough to replenish your electrolytes. For that reason, coconut water can be a great supplement. Rich in potassium, a 2010 study reveals that coconut water worked just as well as a sports drink - and better than water when it came to replacing fluids.

The perfect herbal relaxant

Chamomile tea has been well known as a hangover cure for some time now, and for good reason. Chamomile tea contains flavonoids and terpenoids, which can undoubtedly help calm an upset stomach, and is also great for relaxation due to its sedative-like effect. Drinking this hangover cure can be the perfect way to end your day and fall asleep faster. After all, if there’s anything that will guarantee a full recovery from a hangover, it’s sleep.

A hangover can be a horrible consequence after a night of celebration and overindulgence of alcohol; but, with natural remedies and smart techniques for avoidance, your hangover can easily be a thing of the past.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW | ADVANCED MELANOMA

At Athleisure Mag, we have always championed a number of reasons why Safe Sun is essential and making our readers aware of the importance of knowing about the effects of the sun and why it's important to protect your bodies. We had the chance to talk with Dr. Adil Daud, Co-Director of the Melanoma Clinical Research, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center to talk with him about a study that was released by The New England Journal of Medicine. This study focused on treatments for advanced melanoma patients that showed promise with the largest pooled analysis of patients with BRAF-mutated Metastatic Melanoma.

We sat down with Dr. Daud to get down to basics on skin cancer, melanoma, the different kinds of diseases in this area, treatment and more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Can you tell us what skin cancer is and what the different types are?

DR. ADIL DAUD: Skin cancer includes basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma and other types of cancer.

AM: How is melanoma different than other skin cancers?

DR. AD: The biggest difference is that it has a tendency to spread to the rest of your body. So, when you look at the deaths caused by skin cancer, the majority of them are caused by melanoma.

AM: What is the difference between melanoma and advanced melanoma and why is it more aggressive and deadly than other skin cancers?

DR. AD: We don’t fully understand that, but one of the reasons is that it has this tendency to spread. Advanced melanoma refers to Stage IV melanoma where it has spread to the lymph nodes and the rest of your body – the lungs, liver, brain and other organs.

AM: Can one be cured from melanoma?

DR. AD: From early-stage melanoma, it can be cured. Most people are cured from surgery alone. With advanced melanoma, you can be alive and disease-free. And that’s what the subject of this study is. You probably can’t be cured as that’s not the terms that we use for advanced cancer. The study shows that 50% of melanomas have a mutation in this gene called BRAF and in those patients, many of them are very sensitive to the combination of Tafinlar and Mekinist – those are the 2 drugs that this study is dealing with. Basically, that study showed that a third of the patients are alive and a fifth of the patients were disease free for 5 years. That’s an important landmark to show that for the first time, that those that have the BRAF mutant kind of melanoma, you can have a good outcome even after 5 years.

AM: What are the mutation types of melanoma and how does one evaluate their treatment options?

DR. AD: We know that cancer can look the same under the microscope but can have different driver mutations. For melanoma specifically, about 50% of melanoma has a BRAF mutation and about 50% have other mutations of genes like RAS. There are a bunch of melanomas where today, we don’t know exactly what drives them forward. But we know about the 50% that have the BRAF mutation and that was the focus of this study.

AM: Can you tell us about the study and the promising treatment?

DR. AD: We’ve known for many years that the BRAF mutation kind of melanoma can be sensitive to the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib. The study shows us that even up to 5 years, a lot of patients with metastatic or advanced melanoma that’s prepped throughout your body can be disease free in some cases and alive at that 5 year landmark. It’s important to remember that a lot of these drugs have real side effects like fevers, chills, skin rashes and in some cases serious side effects like lung problems, heart problems and vision problems. So you need to be supervised by a medical oncologist.

AM: How can one prevent melanoma from happening?

DR. AD: One of the most important things you can do is to apply sunscreen, a hat and some protective clothing. Especially for children, we have realized that sun burns and sun exposure in childhood may drive some of these melanomas. So for them, it’s important to supply sunscreen, put on UV clothing and maybe avoid the sun during the 10am – 2pm time period where UV radiation is the most intense.

Read the August Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Something You Should Know | Advanced Melanoma.