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1 week ago | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Jill Metzler Patton |Stephanie Soucheray
Iodine is an essential micronutrient — “essential” in that it’s required for your body to function, but your body doesn’t make it, so you can get it only through your diet. Iodine supports virtually every aspect of health, primarily by helping create thyroid hormones. Iodine also has antioxidant, anti-infection, and potential anticancer properties. A trace mineral, iodine is found in seawater as well as in certain rock formations and soil.
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1 week ago | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Jill Metzler Patton |Jon Spayde |Lola Mendez |Erin Peterson
If you’re a parent, you’ve likely taught your kids to brush their teeth and eat their veggies. But have you talked with them about saving for a rainy day? “Financial literacy” refers to the skills and knowledge that enable us to manage our money effectively. Teaching kids sound monetary habits from an early age sets them up to make smart, confident financial decisions as they grow — and can improve their overall well-being.
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2 weeks ago | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Jamie Martin |Jill Metzler Patton
“Meditation is the ultimate mobile device; you can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively,” writes renowned mindfulness teacher Sharon Salzberg in her 2010 New York Times best-selling book, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation. If only I turned to meditation as willingly and as frequently as I reach for my actual mobile device. The reality is, of all the healthy-living habits we write about in Experience Life, this is the one I’ve had the most trouble making part of my routine.
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2 weeks ago | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Heidi Wachter |Lindsey Palmquist |Nicole Radziszewski |Jill Metzler Patton
In search of places other than bars to connect with people, Susie Whitlock visited a Minneapolis sauna with an old high school friend. “She said she’d been doing a ‘fire and ice’ activity; I was like, ‘I’ll try that,’” Whitlock recalls. “But what I ended up loving more than the heat was the cold water.
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3 weeks ago | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Jill Metzler Patton |Matthew Kadey |Julie Kendrick |Courtney Helgoe
Have you ever wondered why salt is iodized? Most of us take the fortification of this everyday condiment for granted, yet the iodization of table salt represents one of the most surprisingly consequential — and little-known — U.S. public health initiatives of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, iodine deficiency was rampant in much of the United States.
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1 month ago | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Henry Emmons |Maggie Fazeli Fard |Jill Metzler Patton |Frank Lipman
During winter, our bodies want to hibernate. We sleep more, eat more comfort foods, and spend more time indoors. Come spring, when nature awakens, so do we. We might need less sleep and feel energized to give the house a good cleaning. Yet for some of us, the pendulum swings too far: Spring energy turns into agitation, moodiness, irritability, and insomnia. We might think of having seasonal affective disorder (SAD) solely as being tired, sluggish, and depressed during the winter.
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2 months ago | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Jamie Martin |Michael Dregni |Jill Metzler Patton |Jon Spayde
There’s a quote in this issue’s cover story, “The Universal Language of Food,” that made me pause. Chef Yia Vang shares: “I grew up cooking for my family. Food drew people together — this is something I noticed at a very young age.”Although I didn’t do much cooking when I was growing up, I deeply relate to Vang’s words. Food has always connected people, a truth I’ve experienced in my own life.
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2 months ago | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Jill Metzler Patton |Jessie Sholl |Frank Lipman |Gina Wagner
It’s 10 p.m. and you’re on the prowl for potato chips. A deadline looms and all you can think about is chocolate. You’ve sworn off pastries and now you dream exclusively of croissants. If food cravings have taken hold, chances are you’re in conflict with yourself over them. “We use the word ‘craving’ to describe an intense level of desire, which we usually think of as negative,” says Mark Schatzker, writer in residence at the Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center at McGill University.
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Jan 30, 2025 | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Craig Cox |Jill Metzler Patton |Courtney Helgoe |Michael Dregni
The years I spent in the awkward embrace of the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War didn’t offer much in the way of prestige, honor, or privilege. That was not a time when patriotic bystanders thanked us for our service. Like most of my peers, I was hard-pressed to extract much value from the experience.
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Jan 27, 2025 | 
experiencelife.lifetime.life | Jill Metzler Patton |Katherine Lewis |Kaelyn Riley
At one point or another, we’ve all been on the receiving end of hurtful language. Maybe someone said something that made you feel unwelcome, unseen, or disrespected. Perhaps somebody dismissed you, or carelessly used words that caused you pain. On the other hand, maybe you fret over ever-changing guidelines of what is OK and not OK to say. Perhaps you worry about offending someone who matters to you — or being “canceled” for using the wrong words in a work or social setting.
