You probably already know some unhealthy habits–like smoking, eating junk food and excessive drinking–that ruin your health. But what about other small habits we engage in regularly that may be unknowingly doing us harm?
UNHEALTHY HABITS THAT MAY BE RUINING YOUR HEALTH
1. Using Your Phone Right Before Bed
Do you struggle with insomnia? Using your phone in bed might be contributing to this problem and indirectly harming your health. Research shows that the blue light emitted by the phone or television screens can stop you from falling asleep or sleeping deeply.
In this study, participants fell asleep faster and slept better, when they wore special glasses that blocked the blue light from phones and TV at night. Additionally, wearing the glasses helped boost melatonin levels by 58 percent.
Unless you can get ahold of these glasses, avoid using your phone or watching TV 30 minutes before bed.
2. Drinking More than One Cup of Coffee a Day
If you drink more than one cup of coffee a day, chances are you are overdosing on caffeine.
According to the Mayo Clinic, adults should not drink more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. This is not a lot since a 12 ounce cup of black coffee contains 260 mg of caffeine. Stick to one cup a day to get the benefits of coffee. Drinking more than two cups can cause insomnia, irregular heartbeats, and seizures.
Note that the recommended daily intake during pregnancy is no more than 200mg of caffeine.
3. Sitting All Day Long
Do you have a desk job? Chances are you sit longer than you should. Sitting for long hours has been linked to obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
I’m not going to ask you to quit your job, but there are a few things you can do to reduce the effects of sitting. Stand up every 30 minutes to give your body a break, and do these stretches every morning. Taking short walks during your lunch break can also help counteract the harm from extended sitting.
4. Wearing Very Tight Jeans
Are you a skinny jeans devotee? You might want to stick to wearing those jeans only on special occasions. Wearing tight clothes regularly can cause poor circulation, varicose veins, cellulite, and infections.
5. Drinking Fresh Fruit Juice
Sure, fresh juice is marginally healthier than sodas and other processed drinks. It contains many of the nutrients found in whole fruits, but it’s missing the fiber.
Fresh fruit juice is also loaded with sugar. Twelve ounces (250ml) of apple juice contains an equivalent of 9.8 teaspoons of sugar while the same amount of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.
The excess amounts of sugar in fruit juice can increase your cravings and cause weight gain.
6. Storing Food in Plastic Containers
Storing your meals in plastic containers after meal prepping can ruin your health. Most plastic containers contain BPA, a chemical that mimics estrogen and causes hormonal imbalance. Studies have even linked it to increased risk of cancer.
The worst thing you can do is to reheat food in plastic containers. Heat can cause more chemicals to leach from plastic into the food. It is safer to use ceramic and plastic containers when reheating food.
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