Category Archives: Diet And Food

The actor Darren Criss, 32, has a lot to say about grooming, diet, fitness and, most important, sleep. Mr. Criss, a San Francisco native who lives in Los Angeles, is so obsessed with sleep that he times it to REM cycles. He has also started a mens grooming site, the Motley, with the siblings Matthew and Madison Ruggieri, and has just introduced a unisex skin care line called Onekind. Here, Mr. Criss, who is in the war drama Midway and is filming Hollywood, the new Ryan Murphy Netflix show scheduled for release next year, explains his personal care routine.

Fully Groomed

I have a lot of cleansers, but honestly, this is the one category where I feel like you just need to get your face clean. You use a bar of soap, and as long as it does the job, its O.K. Then I use Port Products Sol Defense SPF moisturizer. Then, morning and night, I put on Recipe for Men Under Eye Gel.

For night, Im biased toward my own products. I do the Onekind Midnight Magic serum theres retinol in there and I use that in tandem with Onekind Dream Cream. Every two days or so, I do the Urth Botanical Resurfacing Mask. I love a lot of their products. I also have the Urth Antioxidant Face Complex. Its like taking your face to the spa.

The Perfect Shave

I have to shave every day for Hollywood, the show Im on, and its really tough on the skin. I have to pay attention to the length of my stubble and the kind of blade I use. If I have a few days growth, I like the Executive blades from Dollar Shave Club.

But if its a days stubble, Im using a safety razor. Thats because razor burn comes from multiple blades and multiple tiny cuts. Im trying to minimize that by the number of the blades and also how big the blade is.

I use a hot towel to warm up the stubble. I also try to use really hot water to warm up the blade. Lock Stock & Barrel makes a really great shave oil.

One of the most important things, though, is the Urth Post Shave Elixir. I have buckets of it. If I dont have it, Im in a panic. I recommend it to anyone. I recommend it to my wife after she shaves her legs. I guarantee you maybe five people in the world care this much about shaving.

The Eastern Medicine Thing

I know its a hippie-dippy thing, but Im a fan of oil pulling. I take a big dip out of a jar of coconut oil and swish that around my mouth. It sounds gross, and it is kind of gross. Its supposed to pull bacteria out of my mouth.

I think its an Eastern medicine kind of thing lets face it, theyve been ahead of everything on this front for millenniums. Someone recommended it to me years ago, and then when I was doing Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, I was literally making out with strangers every night. I did anything I could do to clean my mouth it was more for their benefit and less for mine.

Sleep King

Im really militant about sleeping for certain lengths of time. Ive been doing this for years and years: I make sure I sleep in increments of 90 minutes. It takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to fall asleep and then the 90 minutes to complete a good REM cycle. So, for example, Id rather get three hours of sleep than four hours.

You know those days when you wake up and you feel really good even though you didnt really get a lot of sleep? Thats hitting the REM cycle. Or you sleep for a long time, but you wake up in the middle of a REM cycle and your whole day feels awful? I avoid that like the plague. Of course, there are a lot of variables what you ate, how much you drank but I try to have my sleep evenly timed out.

A Timed Diet

Ive been into health and food ever since I was maybe 12 or 13. I was fascinated by the idea that food is fuel in this very nonintellectual way. You need carbs to do this and protein to do that. How its translated today is that you see that the digestive system is directly related to everything else. Its not a subsidiary component.

So I time the way I eat. I dont mean Im timing while Im eating, but you know how if you have dinner plans at 8 with friends? Well, then you dont eat as much during the day so youll have an appetite and enjoy a meal out. I take the same approach with every activity throughout the day.

If Im working, the snacks and the doughnuts are all lying around, and I have to be careful of that. Otherwise Ill feel strung out and tired. I try not to eat three hours before bed, but if Im hungry, I might have a low-glycemic snack. Im not going to have a carnitas burrito.

Then one of my biggest life hacks: Im a huge chia seed person. If chia seed was a brand, Id be repping them so hard. I soak chia seeds overnight and then do chia seeds and matcha in the morning. Theyre the ancient form of good things.

Becoming a Fitness Fiend

I got heavily into fitness in my late 20s. Now Im a certifiable fitness rat. I work out like I used to play video games. Its competitive and fun. Its also meditative. For me its really about the cardiovascular benefits and general well-being. If my body is a little more toned, thats a super-bonus.

When I first started, that entry point was hard to find. I was completely allergic to the bro-y gym culture. Get swoll, dude! The thing that changed my life was P90X. Ive never met him, but Tony Horton is the biggest dweeb in fitness.

I was too embarrassed to go to the gym, and I didnt want to work out in a public space, and here was a guy who was making the dumbest dad jokes. This guy was all right. I knew this guy from high school.

I now love the social aspect of working out. I have maybe six or seven friends on rotation, and instead of going out, we do a workout class together. It might be H.I.I.T., a Pilates reformer class or yoga. I try to change it up as much as possible. I want to confuse my muscles.

I also love Training Mate in Los Angeles. Its by these goofy Australians. Theyre super-fun and funny. When Im in New York, Refine is my jam. Fhitting Room is really great.

Making Time for Recovery

A lot of people dont know how to keep their muscles healthy. They need to do the recovery. Physical therapy is really nice, but its expensive. I believe in rolling out the muscles, and that just takes some time. Also, cryotherapy is incredible.

You can do other things, like an Epsom salt bath, and Im a big fan of the steam shower if you can get access to one. I do it at night too, as it helps me relax before going to sleep.

Read more:
How Darren Criss Overcame His Fear of Gym Bros - The New York Times

The Warriors Insider Podcast

LOS ANGELES --The history of Warriors basketball in the Bay Area is rife with throwaway seasons, including two in which they posted 17 wins and two more with 19 wins. Not once in those 57 years, though, have they lost more than 80 percent of their games.

That inglorious standard is within stumbling distance this season. At 2-9, the Warriors are on pace to finish 15-67. Thats not to say they will. With enough progress and development, they could push their win total deep into the 20s.

That requires a significant upgrade from the pillow-soft defense theyve exhibited thus far.

We just havent found an identity defensively, coach Steve Kerr said Tuesday. We dont expect to be the best defensive team in the league, but I dont think we should be the worst.

The Warriors are, 11 games into this transitional season, the worst defensive team in the NBA. In a 30-team league, they are No. 30.

As they stroll into Staples Center to face the Lakers on Wednesday night, the Warriors rank dead last in defensive rating (117.0), in defensive efficiency (1.136), in field goals made per game by opponents (44.7) and in largest average deficit over the course of a game (19.5 points).

Theyre No. 29 in effective-field-goal defense (56.4 percent), just ahead of the last-place Kings.

The lapses and indifference cant be hidden, and they are spotlighted in team video sessions. Its a team game, particularly on defense, but the Warriors wont get much better on that end unless point guard DAngelo Russell and primary center Willie Cauley-Stein are appreciably more effective.

For us to be the team that we need to be, weve got to be super pesky, super aggressive, out in passing lanes, Cauley-Stein said. Our defensive mistakes need to be being aggressive and not just not knowing where to go.

When I asked Cauley-Stein about his thought process when Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell drove in for a soaring dunk off a halfcourt set Monday night, the 7-footers reply was try to just put a body in front of him and make him miss it.

Thats not what happened. Cauley-Stein stood flat-footed and watched Mitchells highlight. In fairness to Cauley-Stein, he was nudged toward the baseline by Utah big man Rudy Gobert. But there was no aggressive effort to defend what should be his domain.

Asked, also, there was no indication that Cauley-Stein felt his domain was violated by Mitchell.

Theres no comeback, he said. Its a play-on. Theres probably 200 plays that happen in a game. Its not a touchdown. Its two points. You probably go down and probably score a 3-pointer right afterward.

Its one of them things like, yeah, you want to protect the paint but were also fouling too much. Guys are getting downhill. We have to figure out a way to play without our hands and just being in the way and making dudes miss. Thats where were trying to go to now, is making it extremely difficult.

Though Cauley-Stein looks and runs the part of a rim protector, his resume protests otherwise. In 199 games over four seasons in Sacramento, he totaled 228 blocks. For perspective, Andrew Bogut, who considered the paint his domain, had 227 blocks in 137 games in his last two full seasons as a Warrior.

Understand, blocks are not the only stat, or even the primary stat, that matters. The key is presence, which is best built by consistent assertiveness, a level of resistance that discourages driving.

Cauley-Stein arrived with the reputation of being relatively soft in the paint, uninclined to consistently make others feel his presence. If this continues, so will the dunks.

Willies added quite a bit since his return from injury, Kerr said. Just the size, the rebounding, the ability to change shots at the rim is really important for us.

But this is a teamwide exercise, all five guys being on the same page. Being aggressive, taking teams out of their comfort zone. I dont really look at it as one position. Its all five guys communicating, talking, playing with aggression, playing with force and doing it as a unit.

Which brings us to D-Lo, whose apathetic defense is attracting such derisive nicknames as Angelo and Lo --as in no D.

In his first four NBA seasons, Russell was hounded by coaches and teammates --including as a rookie by Kobe Bryant when the two were Lakers --to work harder on defense. Show more fight. Be more engaged. Take pride. And there were stretches in Russells past, with the Lakers and the Nets, when he played respectable defense.

Indeed, his 110.2 rating last season in Brooklyn was superior to Dennis Schroder (110.3) and Mike Conley (110.8), to players generally considered solid defenders.

Russell now is in his fifth NBA season and first as a Warrior, and both the eye test (indifference and/or immobility) and sheer statistics (119.0 defensive rating) point to steep regression. Only two rotation players in the league, Collin Sexton (121.0) and Jordan Clarkson (119.5), both Cavaliers, finished last season with a worse rating.

After the loss to the Jazz the other night, Draymond Green, general of defense for the Warriors, was probed for his thoughts on fixing the defense.

That all starts at the point of attack, he said. One thing weve been good at over the years is guarding the pick-and-roll with two guys. If you can guard the pick-and-roll with two guys, maybe two-and-a-half guys, you give yourself a lot better chance at taking the 3 out of the game, and also dunks out of the game.

Its not one person in particulars fault. Its just something that weve got to continue to get better at as a team.

The Warriors team defense is so incredibly poor that their players are saddled with the seven worst defensive ratings in the league. Rookies Eric Paschall and Jordan Poole are at 119.4. Veteran wing Glenn Robinson III, cooked repeatedly by Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins despite everyone in the league knowing he always goes right, is at 118.9. Rookie Ky Bowman is at 118.5, two-way guard Damion Lee and veteran wing Alec Burks are both at 117.8

Why is Russell, who made his first All-Star team last season, defending at the level of rookies learning the ways of the NBA and guys trying to prove they can contribute in the league?

Perhaps because hes focused on scoring, especially now, with StephCurry and Klay Thompson out for at least a few months. His scoring is needed to keep the Warriors in games, and its conceivable that he simply lacks thejuice to contribute at both ends. An old quote might provide a clue.

I wanted to play defense in L.A.," Russell told ESPN in August 2017, shortly after being traded to the Nets. "But I felt like I had to score every chance I got for us to be relevant."

[RELATED:How Russell is back to torching opponents in mid-range game]

Can he be blamed if he feels that way with this group of Warriors?

The outlook, then, is grim. The Warriors want no part of being the worst team in franchise history. If they cant do better on defense, they invite that possibility.

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Warriors must fix ugly defense to avoid hitting rock bottom - NBCSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO The Warriors left for Los Angeles on Tuesday shortly after posting an injury report that is the longest and surely the most roster-altering in the NBA. It runs seven deep and includes three starters, two of them All-Stars in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Asked if hed ever seen anything like it, coach Steve Kerr replied with a single word.

No, he said. Im not going to expound it either.

Six weeks removed from training camp, only four players Ky Bowman, Marquese Chriss, Jordan Poole and Glenn Robinson III have escaped the trainers room.

With five games over an eight-day span beginning Wednesday against the Lakers in LA, here is an alphabetical status update on each player:

The two-time MVP and franchisefocal point for the past seven seasons sustained a broken left hand on Oct. 30 and underwent hand surgery on Nov. 1, after which the Warriors announced he will be re-evaluated in three months. When Curry addressed the media on Monday, he was wearing a heavy protective sleeve that runs from his left hand to his forearm. He also disclosed that he will undergo a second operation in December to remove pins inserted in the original procedure.

Curry also was firm in announcing his intention to return sometime this season.

Timeline for clearance: Undetermined. Obviously not before February.

The 6-foot-4 guard in his second season, who was expected to be in the teams rotation, has missed the last eight games with a left adductor strain.

Jacob, from what I heard (Monday) talking with him directly and our training staff, is still at least a couple weeks away, Kerr said.

Timeline for clearance: Undetermined. It likely will be at least a month before he returns, so around mid-December.

The 6-foot-9 center-forward, scheduled to be at least a part-time starter, has not played since opening night, after which he was diagnosed with neuropathy, a condition related to the nervous system. Its treatable but not necessarily curable. The effects of his condition might be permanent.

Hes working out every day, getting some good work in, Kerr said.

Timeline for clearance: Undetermined. The Warriors would be delighted if he returns next month. Looney might always have some level of restriction.

The two-way guard, in his second season in that role with the Warriors, was diagnosed Tuesday with a non-displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his right hand. He is one of four players that played in each of the team's first 10 games.

Were hoping its just a few weeks, Kerr said Tuesday.

Timeline for clearance: Undetermined. Barring complications, the second week of December is a reasonable expectation.

The 19-year-old forward, drafted in the second round, sustained a right ankle sprain on the first day of training camp. He wore a boot for several weeks, but now is rehabbing.

Smailagic told me he dunked today, which is a good sign, Kerr said. He was excited about that, so his ankle is improving.

Timeline for clearance: He could be cleared for contact over the next 10 days and conceivably be available late during the Nov. 17-22 road trip.

The versatileforward/center was playing well, particularly on offense, before spraining his left ankle last Saturday at Oklahoma City. He did not play Monday night and did not practice Tuesday. So, according to Kerr, Spellman is doubtful to play on Wednesday.

Timeline for clearance: Probably Friday against the Celtics. If not, hell go on the four-game road trip that begins Sunday at New Orleans.

[RELATED:Kerr explains Draymond's 'really bizarre' reality on Dubs]

The five-time All-Star sustained a torn left ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals and underwent surgery on July 1. He is rehabilitating and occasionally engaging in light one-on-one shooting sessions.

Timeline for clearance: Hes expected to miss at least another four months. There is optimism he could return in March. Its typical for a player to sit out at least eight months or as much as a year after such surgery.

Read more:
Warriors' injury report still growing through trying season - NBCSports.com

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that is the most common type of arthritis. Usually, it occurs among people of advanced age. But it can begin in middle age or even sooner, especially if theres been an injury to the joint.

While there are treatments available exercise, braces or canes, loss of excess weight, various pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medicines these are no cures, and none of the treatments are predictably effective. In fact, often they dont work at all, or help only a little. Injected steroids or synthetic lubricants can be tried as well. When all else fails, joint replacement surgery can be highly effective. In fact, about a million joint replacements (mostly knees and hips) are performed each year in the US.

So, its no surprise that people with osteoarthritis will try just about anything that seems reasonably safe if it might provide relief. My patients often ask about diet, including anti-inflammatory foods, antioxidants, low-gluten diets, and many others. Theres little evidence that most of these dietary approaches work. When there is evidence, it usually demonstrates no consistent or clear benefit.

Thats why a new study is noteworthy: it suggests that curcumin, a naturally occurring substance found in a common spice, might work for osteoarthritis.

In the study, researchers enrolled 139 people with symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. Their symptoms were at least moderately severe and required treatment with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). For one month, they were given the NSAID diclofenac (50 mg, twice daily) or curcumin (500 mg, three times daily).

Why curcumin? Its a naturally occurring substance, found in the spice turmeric, that has anti-inflammatory effects. Its use has been advocated for cardiovascular health, arthritis, and a host of other conditions. However, well-designed studies of its health benefits are limited.

Heres what this study found:

Not so fast. Its rare that a single study can change practice overnight, and this one is no exception. A number of factors give me pause:

Studies of this sort are vitally important in trying to understand whether dietary changes can be helpful for arthritis. While this new study provides support for curcumin as a treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee, Id like to see more and longer-term studies in osteoarthritis and other types of joint disease, as well as more extensive testing of its safety, before recommending it to my patients.

See the article here:
Curcumin for arthritis: Does it really work? - Harvard Health Blog - Harvard Health

American workers are increasingly strapped for sleep and the ones grappling with life-or-death decisions on the job might be most likely to get poor shut-eye, a recent study says.

About 50% of protective-service workers such as police officers, firefighters and correctional officers and military workers reported short sleep duration in 2018, the highest prevalence among occupation groups, according to the study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Community Health. The study defined short sleep duration as sleeping less than seven hours.

Health-care support workers a group that includes home health aides, psychiatric aides and nursing assistants, according to the Department of Labor werent far behind, at 45%. Workers in transport and material moving (for example, air traffic controllers, truck drivers and railroad workers) and production (for example, quality-control inspectors, food-and-tobacco processing workers and power-plant operators) had the next-highest levels of short sleep duration, both at 41%.

The findings are disconcerting, the authors wrote, because many of these occupations are related to population health, well-being, and safety services.

Workers in the law-enforcement and health-care fields in particular are always living in hyperactivity mode, said lead study author Jagdish Khubchandani, a professor of health science at Ball State University. They deal with a lot of health and safety of people; life and death, he told MarketWatch. Its hard to unwind when you see suicide and shootings [and] bloodshed.

Previous research has highlighted the perils of sleep deprivation among law-enforcement and health-care workers. One 2011 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, for example, found that sleep disorders among American and Canadian law-enforcement officers were common and significantly linked to a heightened risk of negative health, safety and performance outcomes.

Another 2014 study in the Journal of Nursing Administration found that night-shift nurses who were more sleep-deprived made more errors in patient care.

There are guidelines and recommendations on shift work and number of working hours that have been prescribed for these professions to improve worker safety and occupational health, the present studys author wrote.

Their study, funded by a grant from Merck Research Laboratories, analyzed data from 158,468 working adults who participated in the Census Bureau-administered National Health Interview Survey from 2010 to 2018. The prevalence of professionals getting insufficient sleep rose substantially over the study period, from nearly 31% in 2010 to almost 36% in 2018.

Other groups at increased risk for short sleep duration included racial and ethnic minorities, workers who were less educated, and those who lived alone, the study found.

Khubchandani and his co-author, James Price of the University of Toledo, suggest that working Americans short sleep duration might be related to changing workplaces, greater access and use of technology and electronic devices, progressive escalation in workplace stress in the U.S., [and] rising prevalence of multiple chronic conditions.

Prior research by the same authors also highlighted the high prevalence of job insecurity and workplace harassment in the American workforce two factors linked with poor sleep, among other negative outcomes.

The National Sleep Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, recommends that adults aged 26 to 64 get seven to nine hours of sleep but one in three U.S. adults in a nationally representative 2018 study said they got less than six hours a night. A 2018 survey by the foundation also found that one in 10 U.S. adults prioritize sleep over other factors like work, fitness and nutrition, hobbies and social life.

Insufficient sleep is associated with conditions like obesity, depression, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How can those working in high-stress jobs with life-or-death stakes or anyone starved for Zs, for that matter get better sleep? Think about how you can reduce your technology use, Khubchandani said. Find a creative way to manage your stress, and exercise more. Stress reduction and exercise generally promote good sleep, as does a healthy diet. MarketWatch previously spoke with four sleep experts about their own personal strategies for getting better sleep.

Employers also play a role in keeping workers healthy, Khubchandani said, whether its through stress-management programs; smoking-cessation programs; or resources promoting good sleep hygiene, healthy diet and exercise.

Employers that are willing to help employees develop adequate sleep times may increase the probability of workplace productivity, reduction in employee health-care costs, and improving workplace safety and health, the authors wrote. Sleep hygiene education may be one method to help employees optimize their levels of sleep and reduce a significant form of preventable harm.

See the article here:
These are the most sleep-deprived professions in America - MarketWatch

JINJU, South Korea K-pop stars are loved, and even worshipped, around the world.

BTS fans, who are in their millions, call themselves the "Army" and once flooded a Korean restaurant with one-star Yelp reviews after its owner said another band was better.

Other hardcore K-pop fans also pool their money together to buy presents including billboard ads in Times Square for their idols in a practice based on the Korean word "jeogon," which means "tribute to the king."

EXO performs at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong in August 2019. Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images

But behind the scenes, the reality is different.

Insider spoke to members of Great Guys, an up-and-coming boyband consisting of nine men in their 20s, after their performance at the Korea Drama Festival in Jinju in early October.

What they shared was a life of strict gym schedules, diets, and forced singledom far from the glitz and glam they show on stage.

"Gym, studio, bedroom that's my life circle," said Ho Ryeong, one of the band members. "We are now preparing for our new album and are actually quite busy."

"Honestly, we don't have much time for eating," he said. "Nor are we free to eat what we want."

Another member, Jae I, chimed in: "That's the hardest part. It's not easy to follow a diet, but [I suppose] it's not impossible either."

It's a testament to the pressures of maintaining the intense beauty standards of the K-pop industry: idols must look and stay beautiful, young, and in good physical shape. That usually ends up in severe diets and exercise regimes.

Great Guys at the Korea Drama Festival in Jinju, South Korea, in October 2019. Komeil Soheili/Insider

One famous K-pop diet, known as the "Paper Cup Diet," involves eating nine paper cups the size of the ones you'd find by water coolers worth of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables every day. Discussion of this diet is also popular among on pro-anorexia forums.

Way, a former member of K-pop band Crayon Pop, told Insider in a separate email: "We weren't allowed to eat midnight snacks. Other snacks like chips and candy weren't allowed, so we would sneak out and eat it."

"Since they kept telling us not to, that made us want to eat more. We would secretly buy it and eat it in the bathroom," she added, laughing.

Way, a K-pop star formerly of Crayon Pop. WayLand/YouTube

Gym routines are also grueling. "We used to dance with 4 kg (8.8 lbs) of sandbags on our feet for several days," Way said. "Our teacher wanted us to get used to the sandbags, so without it our dances would look lighter [in the performance]."

It's worth noting that these beauty standards affect other industries in South Korea too: The country's flight attendants often turn to cosmetic surgery to be beautiful and thin, to increase their odds of securing jobs.

Last year, a news anchor made headlines for refusing to wear contact lenses and false lashes, and opting to present with her glasses on instead.

An ad in South Korea for cosmetic surgery. Getty Images

An unwritten rule in K-pop is that idols must also give up on having a love life if they want to be successful.

Being single makes them appear more accessible to their fans. This, the theory goes, means more devoted fans, which means more income for the group and record label.

This is also why K-pop groups are either all-male or all-female, too so fans don't suspect band members are dating each other.

"Before I made a name [for myself], I couldn't meet my family or friends," Way told Insider. "All our team members were living together in an apartment with a living room and two rooms, so all the time we would be available and at work."

"We even needed to give our phones to the [record] company," she said. "We could hardly meet even our close relatives."

Children practising choreographed K-pop dance moves in Seongsu-dong neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea. Komeil Soheili/Insider

Donghwi, another member of Great Guys, also told Insider: "None of us are in a relationship."

When Insider asked him to clarify whether he and his bandmembers don't want partners or aren't allowed them, he said: "Both! We shouldn't, but also, we don't want to [date anyone]."

"We agreed not to have a girl in our lives, so we can focus more on our mission," he added. "We love our fans, that's enough for us."

"If things go well, we can stay like this forever. We are happy as long as we are doing what we love."

Great Guys seems to be enjoying their path to fame so far, which helps them bear the hard parts of their life. But not all K-pop stars have shared the same optimism.

K-pop star Sulli, who died in October 2019. Han Myung-Gu/WireImage/Getty Images

Less than three weeks ago, South Korean police announced that 25-year-old K-pop star Sulli was found dead in her home. Police are still investigating her cause of death, but are working on the assumption that she killed herself.

She was one of the few K-pop artists who had tried to deviate from the K-pop mold, and was chastized for it.

She made her relationship with her boyfriend public. She dared walk out of the house without a bra departing from K-pop's squeaky-clean image. She spoke openly about her mental health: in 2014, she put her career on hold after suffering physical and mental exhaustion.

In return, she got cyberbullies. In the wake of her death, one fan re-posted a video from Sulli's last Instagram Live, where she said: "I am not a bad person. I'm sorry. Why are you saying bad things about me? What did I do to deserve this?"

Fans and stars alike have urged K-pop record companies to take mental health more seriously, and treat it as less of a taboo.

Earlier this year BTS was allowed an "extended period of rest and relaxation" in the words of the wildly successful group's record label during which band members got to visit museums, go to concerts by other groups, and go fishing, Billboard reported.

Members of South Korean K Pop group BTS pose for photos during a press conference to introduce their new album "Map of the Soul: Persona" in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 17, 2019. Jo Soo-jung/Newsis via AP

Quitting K-pop isn't an option for many stars too record companies tend to have a financial hold on their stars.

A typical contract between record companies and their stars involves the company paying for the expenses of booking concert venues, traveling, and food, and expecting them to be offset by the earnings. But if the expenses end up being more than the earnings, then stars have to pay them back.

As Way explained: "Idols with the false hope of a bright future increasing their debt to the company until they eventually lose everything ... Once, I needed to sell my belongings, [including] my laptop and beloved piano, to survive."

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, K-pop is "shifting from 'potential' to 'power player'" in the global music industry. It is becoming more important than ever to protect its stars.

The rest is here:
Grueling gym routines, restrictive diets, and no dating: K-pop stars tell us about the dark side of their industry - INSIDER

Kimbal Musk meets with Square Root farmers at the company's Brooklyn headquarters, home to farms housed in shipping containers.

Mary Stevens | CNBC

One-third of the world's food supply is wasted, according to research from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Now a start-up called Square Roots, co-founded by Kimbal Musk (Elon Musk's brother) and Tobias Peggs, wants to reduce that waste by growing food as close as possible to the point of use.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Square Roots has developed and installs "modules" hydroponic farms in reclaimed shipping containers that can grow certain non-GMO vegetables around the clock and without pesticides. Today they are producing mint, basil, other herbs and leafy greens. The company made CNBC's 2019 Upstart 100 list, released Tuesday.

The modules, which employ software-controlled LED lighting and irrigation systems, can be set up in the parking lot of a grocery store or even inside a large warehouse or industrial building, enabling a food maker to access fresh ingredients locally for use in their dishes or packaged products.

According to CEO Peggs, raising at least some crops close to where they will be eaten helps reduce the food damage and spoilage that occurs during shipping from a point of harvest to a faraway destination.

Growing food in a tightly controlled microclimate also means those crops can have better flavor and yield than counterparts that are grown in traditional farms, said Peggs, who added that in the great but unpredictable outdoors, everything from changes in soil acidity to humidity can harm crops.

Square Roots CEO Tobias Peggs is redefining urban farming.

Square Roots

Those who buy Square Roots produce can scan a QR code on the packaging to read a "transparency timeline," with details about their fresh food, like the identity of the farmers who grew it and when it was harvested and delivered to the store.

One day Square Roots aims for its technology to work off-world. Kimbal Musk, who is Square Roots' executive chairman and also holds board seats at SpaceX and Tesla, said: "I'm focused on bringing real food to everyone (on Earth), but the farming technology we are building at Square Roots can and will be used on Mars."

Peggs, who has a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence from Cardiff University, has a history of building businesses with Kimbal Musk. Peggs was the CEO of a social media analytics firm called OneRiot, which Musk co-founded. They sold it to Walmart in the fall of 2011.

Peggs and other OneRiot employees joined Walmart Labs, and helped the retail giant roll out mobile apps and analytics in international markets. That was when Peggs became intrigued with the potential for software to help feed the world.

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Square Roots faces significant competition in what's known as indoor ag or sunless farming, including venture-backed competitors Bowery Farming, Plenty, Freight Farms, Gotham Greens and AeroFarms, among others. Their potential to reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture is yet to be determined.

Modern agriculture accounts for 24% of greenhouse gases and is the No. 1 source of pollution on the planet, according to environmental researcher Paul Hawken, the founder of Project Drawdown, a nonprofit that points to ways global warming can be reversed.

Hawken told CNBC, "Indoor ag may or might not pencil out with respect to sustainability when all the energy and inputs are totaled." That's because indoor farming requires more human-made energy but less transport and distribution energy.

Square Roots container farms can grow fresh mint and basil, year-round, in Brooklyn.

https://squarerootsgrow.com/

Moreover, crops from indoor farms might not match the nutrition of soil-grown crops, because the medium the plants are grown in is either hydroponic or assembled substrates. Hawken wrote:

"What makes plants superfoods and nutritious is stress, not 'perfect' temperature-controlled growing environments. Phytonutrients that are vital to human health do not develop to the same extent indoors. Sun, UV radiation, insects, dryness, competition, wind and wide temperature variations ultimately make plants strong, delicious and nutritious."

But it will bring locally grown, organic produce part of a healthy diet to markets that may not have much of it otherwise, he said.

Square Roots is aiming to work with partners that use renewable energy as much as possible to power their modular farms, said Peggs. One recent example is Square Roots' partnership with Gordon Food Service in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which runs its business partly on wind power.

The company has agreed to roll out Square Roots modular farms across their network of hundreds of retail stores and food production and distribution facilities in the U.S. in coming years.

Rather than a plant factory, where you'd spend tens of millions to build an industrial-scale facility that could take two to three years, we pop up in a new city in a matter of weeks.

Tobias Peggs

Square Roots co-founder

Another objective of Square Roots is to inspire more people to become farmers. Wherever it installs its modules, crops are grown and systems are managed by employees who have enrolled in Square Roots' Next-Gen Farmer Training Program. Throughout the year, the trainees get to learn about everything from plant science to computer science from Square Roots, while also earning a salary and health benefits which aren't always available from similar internships and apprenticeships.

Because Square Roots is supplying fresh-grown herbs to more than 70 stores in New York City, that means a significant number of its next-gen farmers are city dwellers who never expected to be working in agriculture.

Peggs said he's betting on modular farms over other indoor agriculture approaches precisely because of their flexibility. "Rather than a plant factory, where you'd spend tens of millions to build an industrial-scale facility that could take two to three years, we pop up in a new city in a matter of weeks."

Read more:
Kimbal Musk's Square Roots is on a mission to feed the world and eventually astronauts on Mars - CNBC

Im not a stressed-out person. Now, dont get me wrongrunning a business is definitely a stressful endeavor. You have to ride an unpredictable roller coaster every single day, and your ups and downs are exponentially bigger swings. You could close your first million-dollar deal, and hours later your lead investor pulls out of a negotiation. Its a wild ride.

Thats why its critical for startup founders to establish tools for managing the highs and lows of a startup. That starts with understanding your own personal stressors. For me, I tend to get forgetful and scattered when Im stressed. Ill misplace my keys or my phone. I forget to eat lunch or look up at the clock and realize its 8 or 9 p.m. and I havent taken a break. Physically, my stress manifests as headaches. Ill get gentle nudges from time to time that remind me I havent had a glass of water in a while.

In the 10 years that Ive worked in startups, Ive figured out how to manage my stress and turn it into a strength rather than a weakness. Here are the biggest lessons that I learned.

While it seems counterintuitive, staying occupied can actually help manage stress. This is something I discovered as a kid, as I hopped around from ballet to tennis to softball to debate to violin practice on any given day. When your brain is active and learning something new, it can bring greater focus to daily tasks. Right now, I spend Sundays and occasional evenings evaluating companies to invest in for XFactor Ventures. It doesnt take too much time, but I get to see how other founders are running their business. This may lead to an investment, and it also makes me a better founder. I also read while I fly for work.

Balancing thinking and talking time can be a great way to manage stress. This is especially true for solo founders that dont have a business partner to lean on for advice. There are a lot of things I work out by myself, but there are other things I need help with. In those circumstances, working with my board, my team, my husband, or other founders is the better option. When Im stuck on something, I typically need a bit of alone time before I can work through it. When I need to lean on someone else, I always make a point to indicate whether I want to vent, or whether Im looking for feedback. There are so many occasions where talking something out helps unblock the issue, and I dont necessarily need any external inputs or opinions.

As a busy startup founder, its easy to put fitness and health on the back burner. Last year, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), a hormonal disorder that affects diet, energy levels, stress levels, anxiety, and a number of other things. In December, I worked to completely overhaul my diet and started working with a personal trainer. I now work out six days per week, even when Im on the road.

Many founders find themselves on the road a lot. Pitching, speaking, meeting clients, attending events, and visiting customers. Traveling is the easiest way to get out of a routine and disrupt well-being. Introducing a few simple products and habits into your routine while on the road can make a big difference. Before bed, I wash my face, make a cup of tea, and put on a face mask while answering the final emails of the day. In the morning, I work out before any meetings. Im also an aggressive disinfectant user on airplanes. That, in addition to an Emergen-C every morning on the road, has prevented me from getting sick despite all the flying.

Every once in a while, its good to hit reset and get away from the business. I knowit sounds scary for founders. However, its often the best way to get back into a productive mindset. Ive got a bunch of things I do to get out of my head. My husband and I like to choose a show and watch an episode or two during the week (right now were watching old episodes of Castle). I love cooking and baking, so I try new recipes. I spend time with family or friends. Its not possible to do all of these things, but its good to set aside some time when you need it to reset.

At the end of the day, stress affects everyone differently. So its important to understand your own triggers, and experiment with different ways to combat them or use it to your advantage. Building a startup is one of the most rewarding jobs imaginable. You just have to make sure that you take care of yourself in the process.

Allison Kopf is the CEO of Artemis.

See the original post:
5 things that every founder needs to learn about managing stress - Fast Company

Being an entrepreneur means doing things differently: Creating new products and services. Finding new ways to solve old problems. To paraphrase Steve Jobs, being just crazy enough to changethings.

If you think some of those habits sound extreme, you're right. Just because something is good,supersizing isn't automatically better. Plus, any habit taken to an extreme is really hard to stick with.

Like eating 5 cans of sardines every day.

That's just one of the things serial entrepreneur andVC Craig Cooper recommends. According to Cooper, "Sardines are the #1 superfood... they're a powerhouse of nutrition, so I'm kind of an evangelist for sardines amongst everyone I meet."

Granted, sardines are good for you.One serving of sardines contains 17 grams of protein,half the recommended daily amount of calcium... and are rich inomega-3 fatty acids, a substancethat can lower bllood pressure, lower cholesterol, and increase the production of red blood cells.

But there's no scientific evidence that taking in 300 percent of the daily recommended amount of omega-3 acids is better than consuming, say, 100 to 150 percent. The same is true for vitamin B12, another nutrient that keeps nerve and blood cells healthy; just because you consume 1,500 percent of the daily requirement doesn't mean your body needs it -- or can absorb it. (Like a friend says about certain supplements, "At some point,you're just creating expensive urine.")

Of course that's not all Cooper does. He loves a 22-minute power nap. He claims he naturally falls asleep at 10:24 p.m. every night.

He lifts heavy, since lifting weights helps fight off the affects of aging. As researchers say,"It seems as if the decline in the cellular health of muscles associated with aging was 'corrected' with exercise, especially if it was intense. In fact, older people's cells responded more robustly to intense exercise than the cells of the young."

He's into intermittent fasting, monitors his blood sugar levels on a daily basis, eats lots of healthy fats, and avoids commercial skin care products since they "suck your man-force out of you."

Some of that sounds great. Some sounds alittle odd.

Cooper has clearly found habits and routines he feels work for him.And that's what matters -- to him, and also to you.

You already try to optimize the outcome of everyevery aspect of your professional life: To be as efficient, effective, and productive as you can possibly be.

The same should apply to health and fitness.

Staying fit andhealthy even more important ifyour work meanssitting at your desk all day -- and, ifyou're anentrepreneur launching astartup,all night, too.

That's why routines matter. That's why developing consistent habits matters.

There's nothing inherently wrong with Cooper's five cans of sardines perday regimen. It's not like he's eating five bags of chips. Sardinesare good for you.

The same thing is true if you make it a habit to eat a chicken breast and salad for lunch every day. Or if you make it a habit to take a 30-minute walk every day. Or if you go on adopamine fast every week or two (since a dopamine fast is really just taking a break from a mindlesspursuit of fleeting stimulation.)

The key is to find thingsthat are good for you, turn them intohabits, and make them automatic.

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes,the ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things.

They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Consideredthat way...maybe buying sardines by the casefull isn't so odd after all.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

The rest is here:
Why Does This Successful Entrepreneur Eat 5 Cans of Sardines Every Day? - Inc.

Mark Cuban knows what makes a product successful. As a top shark on ABCs Shark Tank, Cuban has personally invested millions of dollars into up-and-coming entrepreneurs. One of his latest ventures includes a business that tested Cuban in one notable way.

As the owner of the Mavericks basketball team (he bought the team in 2000), Cuban keeps a fit lifestyle. Though, Cuban previously said his way of thinking goes against his better instincts.

I consider myself as someone who lives to eat, he said. Unfortunately, I find myself thinking more about when I can eat again, than what I will be eating.

Cubans workout routine involves a lot of elliptical training, stair-stepping, and basketball playing. He said the key is keeping his diet to around 2500 calories or less, then burning at least 450 calories by working out.

His typical diet consists of Alyssas cookies (which he also invested in), fish, and salad. He might add in tomato soup, mashed potatoes or green beans from time to time, but overall, he keeps things light.

As for indulgences, the shark he admits to snacking on Skinny Pop popcorn or whipped cream.

Ill walk around squirting whipped cream in my mouth. Hey! Its low carb, haha, he said.

If hes out and about, Cuban confessed to ordering a chocolate-dipped soft serve from McDonalds.

Without question my favorite guilty pleasure, he said. If Im stressed, Ill drive around till I finish the first and get a second.

During the Nov. 10 episode of Shark Tank, husband-and-wife team Logan and Chelsea Green came on asking the sharks for a $400,000 investment in their franchise locations for The Yard Milkshake Bar.

The business model is just as it sounds: a buffet-style milkshake bar where customers can concoct the most social-media-worthy ice cream creations. Cuban volunteered to test the product claiming its the one thing hell go hard for, but probably shouldnt, according to Cuban himself.

Considering his usual diet, an over-the-top ice cream treat is likely on his occasional indulgence list. Cubans reaction to the dessert proves why the business has already found success.

We knew people would love our milkshakes, but we didnt think people would line around the block to wait for one, said the owners.

The store has four locations, but their investment request doesnt include the existing stores. This news threw some of the sharks off but Cuban steps up to the plate, offering close to the owners request.

I want you guys to use the $400,000 to open up units and I want 25 percent, not of the existing units, but of the new business, he said.

The couple countered with 20 percent and Cuban came back with 22 percent and a deal was made.

Even though health is a priority, some of Cubans food-related investments include Tom + Chee, a tomato soup and grilled cheese restaurant, Nut N More, a selection of high protein nut butters, and Plated, a food subscription delivery service.

If Cuban invests in something, itll likely hit the big numbers. Plus, anything that looks good enough to photograph like those decadent milkshakes cant be a bad thing.

Original post:
'Shark Tank': Here's the 1 Thing Mark Cuban Goes 'Hard' For, But Probably Shouldn't - Showbiz Cheat Sheet