life & style // 10 Life Hack: trick your tongue into going saltless » Tips, theory, and benefits Brittney MacDonald Senior Columnist f you'd asked me a year ago, I would have told you I was a proud salt-aholic! Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I put salt on it all and loved it. Of course we all know that salt is bad for you, but that just makes it all the more tantalizing and forbidden. I thought I would never get off the white stuff, but like any good advice, the solution to my problem came from my mother. We were at a concert (yes, I go to concerts with my mother) when the unimaginable : happened. My mother, lover of : all things rock-salted, could not : even eat her soft pretzel. I asked : her how that was possible, and : her answer was simple: “Dr. Oz.” Yep, an Oprah spin-off had taught my mom a useful : life lesson, and improved her : health. Consider that next time : you judge your granny or your : own mother for all that crappy : daytime television she watches. Salt kills taste buds, which : is why you need to continually : put more and more salt on : your food to taste it. In order to : break this habit without giving : up the salty flavour you love for : the rest of your life, you need to encourage your tongue to produce more taste buds. You : do this by leaving your meals : unsalted for about a week—you : can still use it in cooking and : preparation, just don’t salt your : finished meals afterward. Instead, overload your plate : with pepper; cover everything : init. Now, I know that a lot of : people don’t like pepper, but : you will just have to suck it : up for a week. The pepper will : encourage new taste buds to : grow while your lack of salt : will stop them from dying so : quickly. After about a week, : your food will taste saltier on its : own, so you will find you won't : need to add any. Going saltless like this will make going to fast food : restaurants hard. I can no : longer eat French fries because : now I find most to be way : too salty. However, there are : some pretty awesome benefits. : Because salt makes you retain : water, when you give it up : you will actually lose quite a : bit of weight, depending on : how addicted you were. You theotherpress.ca : will also find it easier to keep : hydrated, which in turn will : make your skin better. Because : your new taste buds will not : be desensitized by salt, you : will find that many foods will : become a lot more flavourful— : kind of like when you quit : smoking. I have been saltless for : over a year now and I can’t sing : the praises of it enough. It has : improved the way I feel and : the way I eat, and really I didn’t : have to give up much; just a few : bad habits and a bunch of 4 : a.m. McDonald’s runs. What I learned during week 1 of no-poo » Lessons on oil and preparedness Sophie Isbister Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle @theotherpress.ca I: case you missed it, this is part two of a six-part series on banishing shampoo from my beauty regimen. And I can already tell it’s going to be the most intense personal journey of my 20’s! One week in, my thoughts are mixed: the road is bumpy and slick with grease, and is there even a light at the end of this lubed-up tunnel? Read along, dear reader. In my first few days of no ‘poo, I learned a lot—mostly about oil and preparedness. Day : : That’s when I learned that I : was woefully unprepared to : go no ‘poo. First off, I hadn’t gotten a hair trim before : embarking on my journey. : Immediately after working a one was easy. Day two, I put my hair in a ponytail and went about my business. Day three and four were excruciating, but the good news is, I : learned what everyone else is : thinking about my greasy hair: : absolutely nothing! Everyone : who I neurotically polled—and : that’s about, oh, I don't know, : everyone I came in contact : with—said that they could : : barely tell my hair was oily. That : : still didn’t stop me from feeling : like a seething grease-ball, but : combined with a bandanna, : the pep talks from my friends : and colleagues were genuinely : helpful. So on day four, at my wit’s end with my unmanageably : oiled coif, I made my first : attempt at washing with : baking soda and rinsing with diluted apple cider vinegar. : comb through my tangled split : ends (saved up over a couple : months of unseasonably dry : weather), I placed a phone call : to my hairdresser and made an : appointment ASAP. I wanted to get a haircut not only to try one of those long : bobs everyone is talking about, : but also to ask my trusted stylist : Rosalind Downey what she : thinks about this whole no ‘poo : fad. I was happy to learn that : not only does Rosalind think : that going shampoo-free is a : good idea, she had some helpful : tips as well. While she cut my : hair into a totally on-trend lob, : she touted the benefits of apple : cider vinegar as a conditioner. “Apple cider vinegar won't make your hair any softer while : you're in the shower,’ said : Rosalind, “but it balances out : the pH balance of your hair. It'll : smooth the cortex down, stop : it from being fuzzy, do all of : those things, but you just have : to remember that it’s a rinse—it : : doesn't have a thick or creamy : consistency like a conditioner.” Rosalind’s comments : confirm my experience with : my apple cider vinegar rinse. | : told her that I had been pretty : unsure about putting the : vinegar rinse on in the shower; : ended up unceremoniously : dumping it over my head, and : not feeling very conditioned. “It’s something weird you have to get used to,” Rosalind : : told me. She recommends using : : aspray bottle to saturate the : hair with the vinegar rinse, and : asqueeze bottle to apply the : baking soda mixture—which, : I'm happy to report, did leave : my hair feeling pretty clean. She also recommends that : T use virgin coconut oil on the : ends of my hair during my : experiment, and told me how: : “As soon as I get out of the shower I warm a bit [of coconut : oil] in my hands so they just : look shiny,” says Rosalind. “And : then I just go on the ends and : start working my way up, not : anywhere near the roots. That : helps get rid of the tangle. It : keeps it healthy.” : With the blessing of my : stylist, and a fresh cut free of : tangle-making split ends, I : embark onto my second week : of blissful, shampoo-free : simplicity. To recap: baking soda makes a great shampoo! Must buy a squeeze bottle. And : agreat haircut can improve : your self-esteem, even if you : are drowning in oil. Thanks for : reading along, and tune in next : week! RS eee By Jacey Gibb, Editor-in-chief all me old-fashioned, but I’m still under the impression that the only thing standing between me and millionaire-hood isa really great app. That’s how money works, right? You create an app, sell it to Apple or whatever, and then you get to spend the rest of your life racing dune buggies with Jennifer Lawrence, Here are my top five app ideas (so far): 1) Ihave an Essay Due Today: temporarily changes the password on each of your social media/Neopets accounts for 24 hours. 5) Which?: Similar to Tinder, users can take photos of sandwiches they’ve made and upload them to their profile. People can then browse the photos and swipe left or right, depending on if they want the recipe or not. 2) Yeezus Christ Superstar: randomly selects Kanye West lyrics and pairs them with a religious photo. 3) Smoke Detector: similar to Google maps, it takes your current location and shows you all of the places nearby where you can buy cigarettes. 4) Don't Go There, Girlfriend: Randomly generates a forgotten, once- popular catchphrase from decades past. “Who let the dogs out?,” “You know you waaaaaant it,” and “Bargs has bite,’ to list a few. isk te ne oy Hew Ure Al, Coll a Va \ t * a SS eB i, a oh, ae eo — Sa 4