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If you are a regular at the gym, then you know that bulking up isn’t just about picking up the heaviest weights you can handle. It’s about fueling up with protein powders. That way you get the energy and endurance you need to go as hard as you can, as well as all the nutrients you need to make those muscles improve more than you thought possible. The only issue is that a lot of protein powders don’t taste good. That’s why you need to find the best-tasting protein powders around.
Our Top 3 Picks
There are a lot of protein powders out there, but not all of them taste good. This can be a bit of an issue, because you might have a hard time getting those drinks down. And at a certain point, you might just give up on them entirely. But you can get great-tasting protein shakes that won’t hinder your progress. If anything, they’ll make the whole process go a whole lot smoother.
Looking for the right protein powders that come with great flavors is not easy, if only because there are so many protein powders to look at. And they all come in different flavors. There are the old standbys of Chocolate and Vanilla. But you also get some great alt options like Fruity Pebbles flavoring. Not to mention having to look for the right one if you are a vegan or not. It’s not easy. But it can be done.
It can be done because we have gone and done. Below you can find 5 of the best-tasting protein powders around. All of which will do the job of fueling and bulking you up at the gym while making the process of drinking these shakes down as easy as possible. So all you need to do is check them out and see what each is good for and then pick the one that catches your eye. Whichever you pick is sure to be a fast favorite.
The Best Tasting Protein Powders More

Chances are, BC (before coronavirus) you drank mostly with a nice dinner alongside friends. Maybe you overdid it on game day, but taking a few days off to reset after was no biggie. AC, we’ve all had more time on our hands. We crave routine and loathe boredom, so we bookend the workday at home with a special cocktail or craft beer—a reminder of what joy tastes like. But eight months into our new normal, it’s time to ask the hard question: Do you really want to drink tonight?

What Is Healthy Drinking?
Society has long viewed alcohol consumption in black and white, says psychologist Kevin Gilliland, an expert on addiction. At the turn of the 20th century, drinking was widely acceptable; then, it was blamed for all of America’s problems and outlawed in the ’20s. In the ’50s and ’60s, men were expected to drink Mad Men-style and those who struggled often dealt with shame—there’s a reason it was called Alcoholics “Anonymous.” Even today, we feel the need to go dry an entire month to tip the scale into “healthy” territory.
While AA is proven to be effective for many people looking to abstain, it doesn’t provide tools for moderation. Meanwhile, researchers continue to debate the potential health benefits of moderate drinking—three drinks a night is almost certainly too much, but a drink or two might help us live longer. Either way, it’s intuitive that alcohol is like junk food: You know it’s not explicitly good, but imbibing provides a mental release and a flash of pleasure. When we start to ask alcohol to relieve stress, quiet anxiety, or numb the chaos, our relationship needs to be reevaluated, says Gilliland. A healthy relationship with alcohol is one where it brings positive feelings and you can respect boundaries you’ve set. If that sounds any alarms, consider pumping the breaks.

The Upside of Scaling Down
A nightcap helps you fall asleep faster, but prevents you from entering a deep sleep, explains Abe Malkin, M.D., co-founder of teletherapy platform Monument. And, while alcohol helps you feel calmer in the moment, your neurochemicals swing back in the other direction as soon as you’re sober—so drinking actually creates a larger spike in anxiety, Malkin adds. Booze dehydrates and messes with your gut. Without it, you’ll have more endurance and energy for workouts, and your body will better absorb nutrients.
Rasāsvāda La Vie En Rose Courtesy Image
Baby Steps to Cutting Back
“People don’t need to hit rock bottom in order to make healthier life choices,” Malkin points out. Here’s how to start.
Set intentions. Limit your number of drinks per night (max 3), or the number of nights you drink by 1 or 2. Consider subbing in non-alcoholic bevs like Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA orLagunitas Hoppy Refresher.
Change your scenery. Having a few beers while you binge The Sopranos every night creates a Pavlovian response. To break the connection, have a beer on the porch, then watch TV in bed. This will make your consumption more thoughtful, Gilliland says.
Tweak your hobbies. You perfected your home-bartending skills. Now, conquer mocktails. Zero-proof spirits like Rasāsvāda mimic the botanical quality of liquor and can even provide health benefits in some cases.
Move more. Book your usual drinking hour with an activity that releases endorphins, like exercise. Debrief with your partner on a walk instead of over wine, and trade Zoom happy hours for group Peloton rides.
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Source: Wellness – mensjournal.com More

As we age, it can seem like our bodies are breaking down. We lose our hearing, our vision, our mobility, and our memory. We develop back pain, neck pain, diabetes, and depression. But one recent study, published in Cell, suggests calorie restriction is a comprehensive way to solve most aging ails. Aging, the study’s authors […] More

You’re stressed. You’re on edge. And as icing on the socially distant, candle-less cake, you’re beyond exhausted all the damn time. But…you want to change that. That’s the good news. The better news: There’s a variety of research-backed natural sleep aids on the market designed to improve your shuteye—you just may not know about them. Yet.

 
To help you get a leg up and the ZZZs down, we tapped sleep docs for the gadgets and gizmos they depend on to usher them into a restorative night’s sleep. See you in dreamland.

11 Natural Sleep Aids and Apps That’ll Knock You Out Cold
1. Flume DRIFT
Naturopath Taryn Forrelli, N.D., co-founded Flume, a line of plant-based supplements geared toward athletes and adventurers (the collection also includes preworkout and recovery blends). “Stress, or an overactive mind, is one of the most common causes of sleeplessness,” Forrelli says. “But an overactive body that results in muscle soreness can also stand in the way of a good night’s rest. DRIFT was uniquely formulated to soothe both the mind and body.” Each ingredient is backed by science to improve one of the various sleep-regulation pathways. Ashwagandha, for instance, “is an adaptogenic botanical that modulates the stress hormone, cortisol, which can interfere with the sleep cycle.” DRIFT also contains California poppy, hops, and ocean-sourced magnesium. “An increase in inflammation is associated with a deficiency in magnesium, so ensuring adequate intake is important to keep the body balanced,” she explains. “This is especially important for individuals with an active lifestyle as magnesium is lost in sweat during exercise.”
[$39.99; withflume.com]
Get it Insight Timer Courtesy Image
2. Insight Timer
Abhinav Singh, M.D., medical director at Indiana Sleep Center and medical review panelist for Sleep Foundation always recommends Insight Timer to his patients, seeing as he uses it himself too. The free app lets you choose the duration of the audio meditations (five, 15, 25 minutes, whatever you want), and whether you prefer strictly voice, voice plus music, or audio with music. “The app supplement the concepts of cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness—two prominent, evidence-based techniques proven to improve sleep, especially as treatments for insomnia,” Singh says. To improve your sleep hygiene, create a wind-down routine: shower, journal, read, then breathe. “It’s based on classical conditioning, where you do a set of repetitive behaviors over and over again, which end in sleep onset,” Singh adds. “By the time the breathing meditation is done, you’re sleeping. It’s like when you see a glass of ice water and you know it’s going to be cold and refreshing.” Try using Insight Timer in the middle of the day too, for 10 or 15 minutes, to stay sharp if your focus is waning. Just don’t pick the sleep meditations…
[Free or premium for $60/year; insighttimer.com]
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3. Ebb CoolDrift
Psychiatrist and sleep doctor Eric Nofzinger, M.D., wasn’t satisfied with the natural sleep aids for patients suffering from disrupted sleep, a common side effect of some mental conditions and disorders. “Their minds won’t turn off when they try to go to sleep—and not getting a good night’s rest makes it very difficult to function the next day,” Nofzinger says. “The brain needs to settle down in order to get healthy, restorative sleep, especially in an area of the brain called the frontal cortex, which sits right behind the forehead.” This led him to create Ebb Therapeutics, a line of FDA-cleared cooling headbands that help quell racing thoughts: “The precise, controlled cooling of the forehead before and during sleep creates a distinct calming sensation. Brain imaging studies show this relaxes brain tissue in the very regions where individuals have the most problems,” he adds.
[From $249; ebbsleep.com]
Get it Hästens Restore app Courtesy Image
4. Hästens Restore
“Sleep and mindfulness apps are great for those who have problems clearing their mind before bed, and Hästens Restore is by far one of the more unique and revolutionary ones out there,” says Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., a.k.a. “The Sleep Doctor,” an American Board of Sleep Medicine diplomate and fellow at The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “Hästens worked with cardiologist-turned-mathematician Jussi Eerikäinen to transform his scientifically proven methods into an accessible, free app that combines frequency tones and music to help people improve concentration, gratitude, creativity, productivity, stress management, and relaxation in order to enhance sleep quality.”
[Free; apps.apple.com]
Get it

MUTE Snoring Courtesy Image
5. MUTE Snoring
“When I drink scotch my wife says, ‘Go put your nose thingy in!’ ” quips Breus. “That nose thingy she’s referring to is the MUTE internal nasal dilator. It may seem a bit weird, but the small device goes inside your nose (after 30 seconds you don’t feel it). It opens up your nasal passages to help reduce airspeed and snoring. It also comes in various sizes and each opening can be sized to each nostril (gross but important). “This may have saved my marriage, and sleep, on more than one occasion,” Breus says. Natural sleep aids like this will take getting used to, but it works.
[$27.95, 3-pack; mutesnoring.com]
Get it Calm app Courtesy Image
6. Calm app
Consistently ranked as one of the top apps for sleep, “Calm provides great sleep hygiene and meditation/mindfulness content for adults,” says Azizi Seixas, Ph.D., an assistant professor at New York University’s Langone Health Center. “It also uses acoustic science, such as the different color of sounds to induce sleep. The vast amount of content allows for customer personalization, and they also have an extremely robust educational framework,” he continues, noting there’s growing research that links Calm with improved sleep, anxiety, and stress.
[$69.99/year after 7-day free trial; calm.com]
Get it Dagsmejan Stay Cool Collection Sleep Shorts Courtesy Image
7. Dagsmejan Stay Cool Collection Sleep Shorts
Didn’t think a solid pair of PJs could do it for ya on the sleep-enhancement front? Think again. “As the body’s nighttime temperature is critical to achieving optimal sleep, changing your sleepwear can be a quick fix,” says Rebecca Robbins, Ph.D., sleep researcher and co-author of Sleep for Success! (Disclaimer: She’s on the Dagsmejan Scientific Advisory Board.) While some materials are restrictive and can increase your body temperature, choosing highly breathable sleepwear with natural fibers, like Tencel from eucalyptus, can go a long way toward healthier sleep.” These shorts are approximately eight times more breathable than cotton.
[$89.90; dagsmejan.com]
Get it L-theanine Courtesy Image
8. L-theanine
“L-theanine is an amino acid found in green tea associated with the drink’s calming and mind-clearing qualities,” Forrelli says. “While not a sedative, science shows that L-theanine works quickly to boost alpha waves in the brain, which promotes relaxation and improves sleep quality. In a recent placebo-controlled study, when healthy adults took 200 mg of L-theanine, they fell asleep faster, had fewer sleep disturbances, and used less sleep medication,” she adds, noting most of the research has been done on a branded version of the ingredient called Suntheanine, which is widely available in various sleep products. Natural sleep aids like this are worth a try.
[$17.95, 60 liquid soft gels; amazon.com]
Get it EyeJust Blue Light Blocking Screen Protector Courtesy Image
9. EyeJust Blue Light Blocking Screen Protector for iPhone
Whether you’re doomscrolling or video chatting with a loved one, we’ve all been especially glued to tech devices as of late. Needless to say, that’s no good for counting sheep. “The light emitted by the displays might trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime and bedtime isn’t close,” says Roy Raymann, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at SleepScore Labs. “Using EyeJust screen protectors will reduce your exposure to unneeded and unwanted blue light after sunset, which is easier on your eyes and limits the negative effects of screen illumination on sleep.” (FYI: The product is third-party tested at UC Irvine and ophthalmologist-approved.) A recent SleepScore study found 71 percent of participants using EyeJust slept better and 92 percent reported reduced eye strain. Not bad for a $35 investment. (Screen protectors for iPads and laptops cost a bit more.)
[From $35; eyejust.com]
Get it Moshi sleep app for kids Courtesy Image
10. Moshi app
You know the drill: Kids up all night mean you don’t sleep either. Seixas knows that all too well in his role as a biomedical researcher and scientist. That’s why he partnered with Moshi, the audio-only (no screens!) sleeping app for children. “While downloads of popular adult mindfulness apps skyrocketed during the pandemic, one size does not fit all. Mindfulness and sleep apps made especially for kids like Moshi—using stories, sound, and music to capture and hold attention—are a must.” On Moshi, the stories are narrated in a calming voice and feature white, blue, and velvet noise (a special kind of random noise), all to serve as a sleep-promoting DJ of sorts. “From the mindful exercises that children can participate in during the day to the bedtime stories at night, an audio app like Moshi helps ground children and gives them a sense of calm. With Moshi, kids begin to look forward to bedtime, which is half the battle for parents,” says Seixas. NYU Grossman School of Medicine experimental findings indicate the app helped kids of all ages fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and improve parents’ sleep. “Kids fell asleep 28 minutes earlier on average and slept for 22 minutes longer with night wakings decreasing by 50 percent,” he adds.
[$59.99/year; moshisleep.com]
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11. DrLullaby app
Another excellent option if you’re dealing with kiddos who can’t hit the hay is DrLullaby, an evidence-based digital sleep solution, created by Lisa Medalie, Psy.D., a board-certified adult and pediatric insomnia specialist. It takes a two-pronged approach by addressing the needs of both children (4 months to 18 years) and their guardians. With personalized nightly plans, a progress tracker, and one-on-one video coaching sessions from doctorate-level experts, your household vibe is about to get a lot dreamier.
[$9.99/month subscription plus $59 for first coaching session; apps.apple.com]
Get it

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