🩺🤔 It’s time to face the facts

It’s Wednesday, Boston.

📝 Are you a poet? Do you know it? Mayor Michelle Wu just opened up applications for the role of Boston’s next poet laureate. The application deadline is Sept. 30, you can throw your hat in the ring or nominate someone else here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Stop & Shop says bye to tobacco

• The end of shutdown season

• Red Sox history was made

Up first…

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Face the facts … about your face

Once, a round face just meant that you were in your early twenties. But these days, some influencers say that our face shape may change depending on our cortisol levels, a.k.a “the stress hormone.”

But is there any merit to it? Here’s what to know:

🫥 Welcome to the world of “cortisol face." The claim? That high stress = high cortisol, and high cortisol = a round, puffy face. So the key to slimming your face is lowering your stress, they say. That claim is saturating our FYPs through before and after images, videos peddling cortisol-lowering tonics, and guides and tips for how to lower cortisol, usually through low-impact workouts, mindfulness, or supplements. 

🧑‍⚕️ Chronically high cortisol can have physical impacts. Cushing syndrome is a (rare) hormonal disorder that can lead to a rounded face, among many other symptoms like muscle wasting or excessive facial hair growth. And in other cases, “really extreme psychological distress” like serious depression, anxiety, or alcoholism can also raise cortisol enough to have slight physical impacts, including facial roundness, according to Dr. Allison Kimball, an endocrinologist at MGH. 

😮‍💨 But day-to-day stressors wouldn’t cause them. Chronically raised cortisol levels are extremely serious, and managing them takes medical intervention, not minor lifestyle changes, said Dr. Ronald Lechan, an endocrinologist at Tufts Medical Center. It “would be very unlikely” that anyone who can function normally day-to-day would have high enough cortisol to cause physical symptoms, he said. It’s more likely that the average person’s facial rounding is caused by “excessive salt intake, not drinking enough water, not sleeping enough, excessive alcohol intake, or weight gain.”

📲 So why do trends like this go viral? According to Brinleigh Murphy-Reuter, program administrator at Boston Children’s Digital Wellness Lab, “the public is hungry for evidence-based information in some capacity, whether it's from an authoritative source or otherwise.” Since traditional medical information is largely inaccessible, many young people look for diagnoses online. In fact, a recent study by Hopelab shows 87% of young people said they have gone online for health information. 

🫷If you’re looking for health info online: Tread carefully. Online medical information’s accessibility can be a great thing, said Murphy-Reuter. But self-diagnosing without a doctor’s input can have consequences from spreading misinformation to genuinely dangerous treatment. So if you’re trying to find legit information online, look for medical experts who cite scientific evidence, “especially with DOI or PMID numbers in their videos,” and don’t treat yourself for medical conditions without a doctor’s input.

QUICK QUESTION

📲 No shame, no judgment: Do you ever get health information from social media?

TOGETHER WITH BOSTON SEAPORT

This election’s gone to the dogs (and we’re here for it) 

🐶 🗳️ While everyone’s watching Harris v. Trump, we’ve got a local race barking for attention. Cast your vote for Seaport’s first-ever Dog Mayor and help crown the pup that’s ready to lead with loyalty and bring a bark of joy to the neighborhood. These contenders are primed to run (literally), so don’t miss your chance to make Seaport history today. Polls are open until Aug. 30, with the top five candidates moving on to the Pooch Primaries in October. Who’s got your vote?

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🚭 Stop & Shop says: No more tobacco. Mass.’ largest grocery chain won’t be selling tobacco products starting Sept. 1. For the store, the change is another step in its goal to appeal to younger shoppers (think: “wellness” messaging and store renovations). Meanwhile, it's another win for Mass.’ already successful anti-tobacco advocacy, which banned flavored tobacco products statewide in 2020. And as an added incentive, if you bring back an unopened carton of cigarettes to the Blue Hill Ave. location today, they’ll buy it back, plus give you freebies.

🚇 Is the MBTA’s shutdown season … ending? Well, not just yet, but according to MBTA GM Phillip Eng, we’re getting dangerously close. In a recent radio appearance on WBUR, Eng confirmed that the T is on track, literally, to hit its goal of zero slow zones by the end of 2024, even giving tentative end dates for each line. So if all goes to plan, expect the Orange Line to be clear by early November, the Red Line by the end of November, and the Green Line in December. Thank you, Philip Eng!

🎓 Northeastern’s admission numbers are giving jump scare. Let’s just say, we’re glad we’re not applying to college this year: Northeastern just released this year’s admissions data, and the school’s acceptance rate has dropped to a record-low 5.2% at its Boston campus, placing it among the ranks of cream of the crop schools like Harvard (3.6%) and MIT (4.5%). The school’s admission numbers glow-up has been attributed to its co-op program, which allows students to get full-time work experience during their education, giving them a major boost in the job market. 

🍗 Quick: Why did Jrue Holiday cross the road? If you said: To get to the new, “Golden” Raising Cane’s location that’s opening today near Downtown Crossing, you’re right! The opening, Boston’s third Cane’s location, is in honor of the store’s golden birthday (they turn 28 on Aug. 28). And since the whole point of a b-day is a party, you can expect music, swag, giveaways, and yes, Boston sports champs David Ortiz and Jrue Holiday hanging around. Doors open to the public at 10:30 a.m. Bon appetit!

GIVEAWAY

Together with WNDR Museum

Enter to win a pair of WNDR+ Museum tickets. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on Aug. 28, 2024. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

History at Fenway Park 

This week, two sports broadcasters made Fenway Park history. Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay, both play-by-play and color analysts for minor league team the Portland Sea Dogs, became the first female analyst duo to call a Red Sox game on Monday night in honor of the park’s “Women’s Celebration Game.” 

The pair joined two NESN broadcasters for most of the game, but also took three innings solo, making it (no joke) the second all-female booth in the history of the sport. And while the bar for progress is low, with their stellar performance, fingers crossed that more teams will follow suit. 

Repeat after us: Women. In. Sports. Is. GOOD!

— Written by Gia Orsino

⚾ Thanks for reading! If only the Sox could’ve actually won the game, it would have been a perfect night. 

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, @seaportbos, for supporting local journalism and bringing pawsitive vibes to our city. 

🚘 The results are in: 57% of B-Siders said that they agree with Cambridge’s parking ticket fee hike. One reader said: “Get those steps in, y'all!”

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