Author: Richard C. Trotter

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email To Meghan Doyle, co-founder and CEO of Illinois-based hybrid perinatal clinic Partum Health, the experience of entering motherhood felt like “falling off a cliff.” It’s an apt metaphor for the drop-off in maternal health care after giving birth in the United States. As a pregnant person, you’d typically have anywhere from 10 to 15 visits with your doctor at key checkpoints of pregnancy—but the harness unclips at childbirth, leaving you untethered from the medical system as you enter the uncharted territory of new parenthood. It’s in this space…

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email For centuries, saunas have been spaces for sweating it out—but the sauna of the future is proving to be so much more than a hot box. While in-spa and at-home saunas have long featured dry heat (via wood, coals, or electricity) or infrared heat (through electromagnetic energy), the next wave of saunas will layer on additional features. Among them are red light therapy (which uses a shorter wavelength of red light than infrared, typically to reduce inflammation in skin treatments); pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, or PEMF therapy (a…

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email The definition of “healthy eating” has long been highly subjective, as its answer depends on whom you ask. Many iterations, though, have been prescriptive, narrow, exclusive, and sometimes even culturally offensive. But moving into 2024, healthy food brands are prioritizing a more open-minded and joyful approach to eating—without any need to measure macronutrients or buy super-niche and expensive ingredients. Rather, what’s set to take over our plates is food that centers simplicity, comfort, and legitimate function above all else. This approach to healthy eating from wellness-minded food brands…

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email In 2024, the crisp and uplifting aroma of walking into a luxury hotel won’t just be reserved for vacation, nor will the peaceful scent of a spa be reserved for a self-care special occasion. That’s because the home fragrance market is entering its quiet luxury era. While it’s not a new concept to use scented home products like dish soaps, candles, diffusers, laundry detergents, and the like, the offerings are certainly evolving and growing more pervasive in terms of transportive, mood-boosting, and personalization capabilities. And the overall category…

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email Fun fact: The skin on your scalp ages faster than the skin anywhere else on your body—and the effects are written all over your strands. While multi-step skin-care routines prioritize longevity by smoothing, brightening, and tightening, such a focus hasn’t extended to the hair on our head. Come 2024, though, prepare to rethink your hair-care routine with longevity in mind, thanks to the help of a slew of new product launches that aim to keep hair as healthy as possible—for as long as possible.  The last three years…

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email Long gone are the days when a personal training session required you to go to an actual gym to meet with an actual personal trainer. Today, there are myriad platforms, tools, and services that allow for personalization of your workout plan—and they’re only getting smarter.  Since Apple Watch launched in 2015 and began nudging us to meet new self-imposed “activity goals” (aka “close our rings”), digital platforms and tools have increasingly informed how we work out. Take Tonal, which launched in 2018; the cable-based weight system automatically provides you with…

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email This trend hits close to home. When you think of “wellness,” real estate may not be the first (or second… or 12th) thing that comes to mind—but that may soon change as residential real estate experiences a health overhaul. In 2024 and beyond, the concept of wellness at home will be a driving factor in the way houses and apartments are built and renovated, thanks to a growing understanding among buyers and renters that our living environment impacts our overall health.  As of 2022 (the latest report available),…

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email Tacos, tlayudas, tamales—what do they all have in common? It’s corn! While incredibly versatile once cooked, corn (maize, or maíz in Spanish) in its raw form isn’t digestible by the human body due to its high levels of cellulose, a type of insoluble fiber. This is where la magia (the magic) of nixtamalization comes into play.  Nixtamalization is an ancient Mesoamerican culinary technique1 that involves cooking raw corn kernels in alkalized water, turning them into a digestible, soft, flavorful corn dough. The process also unlocks many of corn’s…

Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email It’s rare to find skin-care advice that’s one-size-fits-all, but in the dermatological world, there is an exception: Strong skin is healthy skin. No matter what type of complexion you have or your unique concerns, “a strong skin barrier is the single most important factor [in maintaining skin health],” says John “Jay” Wofford, MD, a board-certified dermatologist with U.S. Dermatology Partners. And in 2024, the beauty industry will deliver the tools we all need to achieve exactly that. Your skin barrier is made up of lipids and cells, and…

To those unfamiliar with the powers of breathwork, the idea that you can change your physiological state by simply altering how you inhale and exhale may seem too good to be true. After all, breathing is something we do all day long, automatically. But when you harness your breath in certain ways (á la breathwork), it’s essentially the physical counterpart to meditation: Meditating uses the mind to calm the body, and breathwork employs the body to soothe the mind. It’s the reason why particular calming breathing exercises, like moon breathing, can shift you into a more tranquil mental state ideal…