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When I visited Malaysia and Singapore as a child, I was always curious about the many Chinese herbalist shops we’d pass on busy shopping streets. They looked like they were from another universe. As I peered through the windows, there were glass canisters full of mysterious ingredients: goji berry, bird’s nests, pearl dust, tiger bones, gazelle antlers. We never went inside. My parentswho were trained as a nurse and a biochemist respectivelybrushed aside Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as unscientific at best, and dangerous at worst. So I grew up skeptical of these practices. I rolled my eyes when people suggested taking ginseng tea to boost my energy. I stayed clear of acupuncture and cupping. My family’s perspective wasn’t uncommon. For centuries, those immersed in Western medicine have treated TCM with suspicion, mockery, and sometimes hostility. We’ve seen this play out in the Western media over the last decade. The Smithsonian Magazine reported that TCM’s use of pangolin scales is driving the creature towards extinction. The Economist argued that TCM dangerously peddles unproven remedies. When the World Health Organization began officially evaluating TCM practices, top science journals and magazinesScientific American and Naturecalled this a bad idea. Still, some Americans are intrigued by the promises of Chinese medicine. Kim Kardashian gushes about her Chinese herbalist and Gwyneth Paltrow promotes acupuncture and Chinese herbal remedies. Now, interest in TCM is trickling down into the mainstream, particularly among women and people of color who feel that the Western medical establishment has failed them in some way. There are now several startups, including Qi Health and Nooci, that are trying to make TCM more widespread. One of the most established is Elix, a five-year-old startup that wants to make TCM herbal formulas more accessible and widespread. Lulu Ge, who incubated the company at Wharton Business School, is on a mission to prove that TCM is effective at tackling many women’s health problems including premenstrual syndrome, fibroids, endometriosis, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. We’ve talked to thousands of women who say they feel like their doctors aren’t taking their concerns seriously, Ge says. But Chinese doctors have been treating these issues for centuries with herbal formulas. [Photo: Courtesy of Elix] Ge is trying to create a more systematic approach to TCM, standardizing treatment, sourcing ingredients in such a way that the formulas are consistent, and conducting clinical studies to prove their effectiveness. This appears to be a winning strategy. Elix has had 60,000 subscribers since launching in 2020. More than 90% of women who try the formulation come back. Given how much resistance there still is to TCM, Elix has an uphill battle ahead to achieve more mainstream adoption. But Ge, and other TCM advocates, believe there is more openness than ever before. If we could combine and integrate Western and Chinese approaches, we could really achieve a Golden Age of medicine, says Elizabeth Fine, dean of clinical education at Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, and an Elix advisor. Our studies are finding than when you introduce Chinese medicine into Western therapies, you get a much stronger effect. Chinese Medicine and Marginalized Americans Before Paltrow and Kardashian, members of the Black Panther Party and Puerto Rican activist group, the Young Lords, embraced Chinese medicine. Back in the early 1970s, when heroin was ravaging Black and brown neighborhoods in New York, the prevailing way to treat addiction was to use another drug, methadone. But several Black doctors learned from Chinese communities that acupuncture could be a viable, drug-free alternative. So these groups opened an acupuncture clinic in Bronx called the Lincoln Detox Center. (At the time, acupuncture was illegal in several states in the U.S.; the government worked to shut the Bronx clinic down and succeeded in 1978.) The relationship between Chinese medicine and other people of color goes back to the mid-1800s, when Chinese immigrants arrived in the U.S. to work on the railways during the Gold Rush. They brought herbs, ointments, and teas in case they got sick because few other forms of healthcare were available to them. Over time, Chinese doctors set up shops in Chinatown and would treat American patients as well. Minoriy groups, who could not afford to go to Western doctors, were particularly open to these doctors. [Photo: Courtesy of Elix] Ge sees Elix as part of this tradition. More than half of Elix’s customers are women of color. This makes sense to her, given that these communities have had more exposure to TCM than their white counterparts. On top of this, there is a lot of research showing that Black women experience discrimination in the healthcare system. In our one-on-one sessions with customers, we’ve had many women of color tell us they’ve felt marginalized or gaslit by doctors in the healthcare system, she says. But more broadly, many women’s health problems have not been studied as thoroughly. There are many reasons for this, according to experts. For centuries, women were not included in clinical studies, since the male body was considered normative. And even today, women are underrepresented in medical research. As a result, conditions like premenstrual syndrome and polycystic ovarian syndrome remain poorly understood. How Chinese Medicine Sees The Body In some ways, the principles of Chinese medicine are particularly suited to tackling women’s health conditions, which are often associated with hormonal shifts. According to Ge, the Chinese approach takes a much more holistic view of the body. It is interested in how the systems work over the course of a day, a month, and the year. If a patient feels unwell, the first step is to see how their body is out of balance, then figuring out how to balance it again. As a result, Chinese doctors are generally attuned to how a woman’s body changes over her menstrual cycle. If a woman feels more fatigued before her period or experiences a migraine, they have a keen sense of how their hormones are fluctuating and have herbal remedies designed to mitigate the shifts. [Photo: Courtesy of Elix] This contrasts with Western medicine, where doctors tend to be very specialized, which can make it hard to treat syndromes related to the menstrual cycle. I’ve seen this firsthand with my menstrual migraines. Since my gynecologist doesn’t specialize in headaches, she referred me to a neurologist. My neurologist prescribes me the latest migraine treatments, but he is not trying to treat the underlying hormonal shifts that are causing the migraine in the first place. Mark Shrime, a Harvard Medical School professor and the editor the BMJ Global Health journal, says specialization is one of the strengths of Western medicine, which has allowed us to understand the human body in great depth. And, ultimately, when the healthcare system is working as it should, he says doctors should be thinking about how to treat the patient holistically. It’s a generalization to say that allopathic medicine [i.e. Western medicine] is irreparably siloed or doesn’t think holistically, Shrime says. Western doctors are trained to look beyond a particular symptom. But Chinese medicine partitioners tend to be generalists, which influences how they treat patients. When it comes to their menstrual cycles, women face a wide range of symptoms, including cramps, headaches, depression and anxiety, bloating, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, and many more. TCM has developed a way of organizing these symptoms into patterns, and has identified particular herbs that can counter these issues. When building Elix, Ge worked with TCM practitioners to categorize patterns and match them with specific formulas known to bring relief. It has also built a supply chain to source the herbs from trustworthy suppliers. Each batch of formulations is tested for both quality and consistency. One issue with traditional medicine is that it was hard to ensure the quality of the herbs, says Fine. If you weren’t getting results, you couldn’t tell if it was quackery, or if the quality of the herbs just wasn’t good. Elix customers take an in-depth survey about their menstrual cycle which covers everything from period symptoms to chronic condition like fibroids. Using an algorithm, Elix will match these symptoms to a particular pattern and prescribe a formula. Our goal is to standardize this approach to medicine by identifying common patterns and provide the right formulations for each, Ge says. My biggest goal is to bring some clinical rigor to TCM, and to do so, we need to have some standardization and repeatability in place. The Translation Problem Ge believes that her brand has grown thanks to the efficacy of the formulas. Many customers provide feedback and reviews saying that Elix has relieved their symptoms. In some cases, women have reported that their PCOS has gone away completely. Elix continues to grow, particularly among those who are frustrated with the healthcare system and are inclined towards experimenting with Chinese medicine. But to scale, Elix must go beyond these early adopters and tap into mainstream consumers who are less familiar with, or even skeptical of, TCM. One way Ge is doing this is by translatng the principles of TCM into language that is more familiar to those immersed in Western medicine. Chinese medicine is based on the concept of qi, which refers to the universal life force, and balancing the ying and yang energies in the body. Many people recoil at this language. But Ge says that ying and yang maps neatly into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. And when Chinese medicine describes being out of balance, this often maps onto the concept of experiencing inflammation of some kind. We’re truing to explain these concepts from a Western medicine perspective so that they don’t feel so foreign and weird to people, says Ge. [Photo: Courtesy of Elix] Jonathan Leary, founder of the Remedy Place wellness clubs, has been open to incorporating treatments from other medical traditions into his clubs, including acupuncture. He agrees with Ge that translating these approaches into language that consumers will understand is key to to their success. One of my priorities is to bring alternative medicine mainstream, Leary says. When we communicate about it in a way that is relatable and scientific, people have quickly adapted. Winning Over Skeptics With Clinical Studies But Ge is also trying to provide evidence that her formulations work in a way that is understandable to Western doctors. This isn’t easy, partly because the format of clinical trials is about isolating a particular pharmaceutical compound, giving it to patients, and seeing how well it does against a placebo. The goal is to see the same result among a large proportion of those within the trial. In contrast, Chinese medicine recognizes that each patient is unique and formulations must be tailored to the individual’s symptoms. Still, Elix is now conducting several independent clinical studies to see how the herbal formulations affect hormone-related symptoms. It recently released the results of a study around PCOS, a condition which affects between 6% and 13% of reproductive-aged women, and results in irregular periods, weight gain, and infertility. There is a lack of medical research into PCOS, and as result, there are no FDA-approved drugs to treat it. The results of the Elix study found that 89.3% of participants who used Elix’s formulas were able to regulate their cycle, and 71.4% found that it had improved their PCOS symptoms. There’s a long way to go before TCM is widely accepted in America. But Elix reveals a possible path by which more people are able to learn more about the Chinese approach to medicine, and access treatments that might help them. And now, it seems Western medicine is beginning to open up to these approaches. I would never recommend Chinese medicine as an alternative to going to your doctor, says Shrime. But I think there’s a greater acceptance of these treatments to complement allopathic medicine. There’s a recognition that some of these herbs do make you feel better, so if they don’t interact with another drug, I wouldn’t say no to a patient who wanted to try them.
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Music is everywhereplaying in coffee shops, on hold lines, in Ubers, behind YouTube ads, and of course, in your earbuds while you work. Its so constant, we often treat it like harmless background noise. But the brain doesnt. Whether we realize it or not, music is processed across multiple brain regions tied to attention, memory, and emotionmeaning even passive listening can impact how we focus, feel, and make decisions. Background music is never truly in the background. It either supports or competes with your mental state. And that means we have a choice. In todays fast-paced work culture, where multitasking is the norm and focus is scarce, how we use music can either support or sabotage our goals. The good news? With just a little intention, your playlist can become one of the most powerful productivity tools you already have. Think about how youre listening to music Music is one of the most overlooked productivity tools. The key isnt whether you listen to music, its how. Theres a difference between active listening and what we call purposeful passive listening. Both are powerful, but for different reasons. Active listening is fully engaging with the musictuning into the melody, rhythm, harmony, or lyrics. Its nearly impossible to multitask during this kind of listening, and thats the point. Use active listening when you need to regulate stress, reset emotionally, or refocus. Breathing with a steady beat, or allowing a favorite instrumental piece to quiet your inner noise, can activate the brains attention and emotional regulation systems. Over time, practicing this kind of deep listening can even strengthen interpersonal relationships, as it helps reinforce our capacity to tune in to others. Purposeful passive listening, on the other hand, involves choosing music to support a task or shift your mental state, without fully focusing on it. This is not about letting an algorithm autoplay. Its about intentionally selecting tracks: maybe lo-fi beats while cleaning out your inbox, or ambient strings while brainstorming. This kind of listening taps into the brains default mode network, the system that activates during daydreaming, introspection, and idea incubation. Engaging the default mode network can help you step back from focused work and allow space for insight, creativity, and big-picture thinking. Music, when used intentionally in the background, becomes a bridge between tasks and a subtle support system for imaginative work. Turn music into a mental habit Music also plays a surprising role in executive functionthe cognitive control system that helps us switch between tasks, regulate impulses, and manage working memory. Background music can enhance learning outcomes by improving arousal and mood, which are closely linked to cognitive performance. Listening to familiar, patterned music while working can help create structure for the brain, making transitions smoother and sustained attention more accessible. Its why some people instinctively reach for a playlist before writing an email, prepping for a meeting, or transitioning into a different type of work block. And it goes deeper. Have a go-to song that gives you a burst of energy? Dont just save it for the gym. Drop it into the middle of your workday, right before a presentation, during an afternoon slump, or when motivation dips. When you use the same song consistently with a particular task, your brain starts building an association. Over time, the music becomes a cue, like a mental shortcut into a focused or energized state. Maybe its We Will Rock You before a big pitch, or River Flows in You for concentration. Music activates the brains reward system, releasing dopamine, the same neurotransmitter associated with motivation and pleasure. The more consistently we attach meaning to a song, the more powerful its effect becomes. Use music enough, and your brain doesnt just hear the notes, it knows what to do next. Sound can be a strategy Music isnt just something we hear; its something that actively shapes our brain states. When used with intention, sound becomes a strategy: for focus, for recovery, for creativity, or for connection. In a world full of noise, its not about turning the music off. Its about tuning in. How to use music more intentionally at work Create a 3-track playlist: one for focus, one for a reset, one to energize. Pair a consistent song with a task you want to build into habit, like writing, prepping, or unwinding. Avoid music with lyrics when doing language-based tasks like writing or reading. Use instrumental or ambient music to transition between meetings or block your day. Try bookending your work day with music. Use the same track to start and end, and signal your brain into a productive rhythm. With just a little intention, your daily soundtrack can become one of the most effective tools for doing better workand feeling better while doing it.
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Spring showers might bring flowers, but they can be a real hassle when you’re trying to look presentable at the office. Many of the best raincoats are made by outdoor brands, which tend to focus on utility rather than aesthetics. But a rugged jacket that is perfect for hiking through the rain can really ruin a professional look. When you’re headed to work, what you need is a jacket that is sleek and minimal, inspired by a traditional silhouette, like a trench coat or a car coat, but made from high-tech waterproof or water repellent materials. And ideally, you can find one that is so elegant that you want to reach for it throughout the spring and fall, even when the forecast is clear. Fortunately, there are many beautiful rain jackets that fit this description that match many styles and price points. Here are some of our favorites. Best Performance Canada Goose: Cardero Rain Jacket, $895 If you’re looking for complete rain protection, the Cardero jacket offers 100% waterproofing, thanks to its fabric and seam-sealed construction. It features three layers of material to keep you warm (It is perfect for spring days when the temperatures hover around 30 degrees Fahrenheit.) But it is not bulky. It has a sleek, contoured silhouette, thanks to a drawcord on the interior that cinches your waist. The large hood will keep your face dry (and makeup from running) through even the stormiest weather. Most Effortlessly Chic Sezane: Hugo Parka, $365 The French label Sezane has developed a parka designed to fit perfectly with its vintage-inspired, effortless Parisian aesthetic. What makes this jacket sing is all the little details: the large buttons, the wide sleeves that can be rolled up and attached, the oversize hood. It is made from a breathable organic cotton, with a water-resistant finish so it will keep you dry in most conditions. (You may want to wait out the torrential downpour, however.) That said, it is so fetching that you’ll want to wear it throughout the spring and fall. Best For Travel Stutterheim: Mosebacke Lightweight Raincoat, $270 Swedish label Stutterheim specializes in raincoats, so it knows what it’s doing. The Mosebacke epitomizes Scandinavian style, with its a-line shape and oversized hood. It is designed to make it easy to move: The eyelets under the arms create ventilation and the drawstring on the hood ensures it stays on when it’s very wet outside. It is thin, which makes it easy to pack for unpredictable weather as well as for traveling. Best Value Everlane: The Anorak, $178 If you want a rain jacket that will get the job done without breaking the bank, we suggest Everlane’s anorak. Made of a lightweight fabric blend of organic cotton and recycled nylon, it is treated with a water-resistant finish. It has a large hood that is both practical and a nice design element. In keeping with the brand’s pared-down aesthetic, it features clean lines without any unnecessary details. For those who need a slightly more casual jacket to wear to work, this is a good pick. Best in Class Mackage: Winn 2-in-1 Classic Trench Coat, $1,190 For a classic trench style that will keep you both warm and dry, Mackage has you covered. The Canadian brand has developed a flattering, tailored coat that is full of versatile features. It has a removable inner liner that adds warmth, so you can wear it through the colder months of the spring and fall, when the weather falls to below freezing. (This liner is also washable.) The exterior fabric is water-repellent and features a rain shedder feature that wicks water away from your body. But apart from its functionality, it is just a beautiful coat with plenty of chic details that make it stand out: buttoned shoulder tabs, a statement belt, adjustable cuffs and buttoned throat latch. While this jacket is on the pricier end of our list, it is good value because you can wear it year-round.
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Residents of the mostly Black communities sandwiched between chemical plants along the lower Mississippi River have long said they get most of the pollution but few of the jobs produced by the regions vast petrochemical industry. A new study led by Tulane University backs up that view, revealing stark racial disparities across the U.S.s petrochemical workforce. Inequity was especially pronounced in Louisiana, where people of color were underrepresented in both high- and low-paying jobs at chemical plants and refineries. It was really surprising how consistently people of color didnt get their fair share of jobs in the petrochemical industry, said Kimberly Terrell, a research scientist with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic. No matter how you slice or dice the data by states, metro areas, or parishes, the datas consistent. Toxic air pollution in Louisianas petrochemical corridor, an area often referred to as Cancer Alley, has risen in recent years. The burdens of pollution have been borne mostly by the states Black and poor communities, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Tulane studys findings match what Cancer Alley residents have suspected for decades, said Joy Banner, cofounder of the Descendants Project, a nonprofit that advocates for Black communities in the parishes between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. You hear it a lotthat Black people are not getting the jobs, she said. But to have the numbers so well documented, and to see just how glaring they arethat was surprising. People of color were underrepresented in all of the highest-paying jobs among the 30 states with a large petrochemical industry presence, but Louisiana and Texas had the most extreme disparities, according to the study, which was published in the journal Ecological Economics. While several states had poor representation on the upper pay scale, people of color were typically overrepresented in the lower earnings tiers. In Texas, nearly 60% of the working-age population is nonwhite, but people of color hold 39% of higher-paying positions and 57% of lower-paying jobs in the chemical industry. Louisiana was the only state in which people of color are underrepresented in both pay categories. People who arent white make up 41% of the working-age population but occupy just 21% of higher-paying jobs and about 33% of lower-paid jobs. The study relied on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Louisiana Economic Development. The chemical industry disputed the studys findings. We recognize the importance of examining equity in employment, however, this study offers an incomplete and misleading portrayal of our industry and its contributions, David Cresson, president and CEO of the Louisiana Chemical Association, said in a statement. Cresson pointed to several industry-supported workforce development programs, scholarships, and science camps aimed at closing the training gap in Louisiana. But the study indicates education and training levels arent at the root of underrepresentation among states or metro areas. Louisianas education gap was modest, with college attainment at 30% for white residents and 20% for people of color. In places like Lake Charles and St. John the Baptist Parish, where petrochemical jobs are common, the gap was minimalfive percentage points or less. The industrys investments in education are just public relations spin, Banner said. The amount of money theyre investing in schools and various programs pales in comparison to how much theyre profiting in our communities, she said. We sacrifice so much and get so little in return. Louisiana is also getting little from generous tax breaks aimed at boosting employment, the study found. The states Industrial Tax Exemption Program has granted 80% to 100% property tax exemptions to companies that promise to create new jobs. For each job created in Cameron Parish, where large natural gas ports have been built in recent years, companies were exempted from almost $590,000 in local taxes. In St. John, each job equated to about $1 million in uncollected tax revenue. This tradeoff of pollution in exchange for jobs was never an equal trade, said Gianna St. Julien, one of the studys authors. But this deal is even worse when the overwhelming majority of these companies property taxes are not being poured back into these struggling communities. Tristan Baurick, Grist This article originally appeared in Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for its newsletter here. This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and Verite News, a nonprofit news organization with a mission to produce in-depth journalism in underserved communities in the New Orleans area.
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Whether youre familiar with the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche or are a fan of singer Kelly Clarkson, youve probably heard the phrase, What doesnt kill you makes you stronger. While it sounds like a cheer for persistence during tough times, its also scientifically true, says Jeff Krasno, author of Good Stress: The Health Benefits of Doing Hard Things. Stress, whether from physical challenges like ice baths or mental stressors like tough conversations, fosters resilience and long-term wellbeing, he says. The key is to differentiate between good stress and bad stress and use the former to your advantage. To understand the difference between good and bad stress, Krasno offers this example: If you were hiking and ran across a rattlesnake on the path, you’d probably have a stress response that serves your biological imperative to survive, he says. The problem with modern stress for so many people is that the rattlesnake never leaves the path. Bad Stress Versus Good Stress Many of us live in a state of chronic agitation that includes personal hardship, overwork, past trauma, and a 24-hour social media algorithm designed to keep people in a state of amygdala hijack. We live in an attention economy where everyone is vying for your focus at every moment through increasing levels of sensationalism and scandal and fear and outrage, says Krasno. It keeps people in a state of chronic stress, and that’s really when stress is bad. Good stress, on the other hand, comes from the discomforts our ancestors endured. We evolved for hundreds of thousands of years as Homo Sapiens with a relationship to Paleolithic stress, such as calorie scarcity, fluctuations in temperature, immersion in nature, communal living, and exposure to light, says Krasno. Adaptive mechanisms to those forms of stress formed physiological pathways in the body that promoted longevity and resilience. The problem is that weve denuded life of most Paleolithic stressors, says Krasno. For example, many of us we have an endless supply of calories at our disposal. We generally spend most of our time sedentary and inside temperature-regulated environments, removed from nature. And we rely on artificial light, which can impact sleep. Removing good stress in favor of comfort has had consequences, and Krasno says the increasing prevalence of chronic disease results from chronic ease. Weve fooled ourselves into thinking that we can exist as separate individuals in our single-family homes, ordering up DoorDash all day, says Krasno. Since the industrial revolution, particularly accelerating in the last 50 years, we have engineered our lifestyle for comfort and convenience. Introducing Good Stress Counterbalance bad stress by introducing good stress at the appropriate amount. Early 16th century Swiss physician Paracelsus said, only the dose makes the poison. The right dosage of self-imposed discomfort, such as strenuous activities, and temperature regulation, can make you stronger, says Krasno. But it’s important to start slowly. I would never advise anyone who has never ice plunged before to get into a 33-degree ice bath for the first time, says Krasno. Get into a 60-degree ice bath see what that feels like. Find the edge of your discomfort and lean into it and be curious about what’s on the other side of it, because it’s generally a very good thing. Krasno also advocates for leaning into social stress. I call it diving into the ice bath of hard, stressful conversations, becoming just a little bit more comfortable with our discomfort, so we can unwind a lot of infirmities, he says. As the host of the Commune podcast, where he talks about health and wellness, Krasno regularly encounters people who dont agree with his points of view, emailing or commenting on his posts. Instead of ignoring them or disagreeing publicly, he invites them to jump on a Zoom call. Most ghost him, but some accepted the call. He created a safe setting, acting polite, open, and curious. Leaning into discomfort We build our physiological immune system through low-grade exposure to pathogens and virus and bacteria, says Krasno. Through having these conversations, I built what I call my psychological immune system. In addition to being an exercise in connection, active listening, and open-mindedness, Krasno says it provided an opportunity for personal growth. It fortified my own opinions, because, for once, I had to consider the best part of an opposing opinion, he explains. People get trapped in the story that they tell themselves about themselves, but Krasno says change is possible if youre willing to lean into discomfort. Once you actually grasp your own impermanence, you can take agency over the trajectory of your life, he says. Embracing discomfort will change the trajectory of your life. Humans are just a process, not a product. We move dynamically across this spectrum from wholeness to disease and disaster. You can move towards wholeness as a process, too. You have agency over the trajectory of that journey.
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