Bad habits – we all have them. Just because you might not smoke and hit the gym regularly, doesn’t mean there’s not another sneaky habit that is detrimentally affecting your health without you even knowing.
While we’ve all been taught that smoking is one of the worst things you can do for your overall health, and that is indeed very true, we perhaps weren’t taught about the other bad behaviours that can take years off your life expectancy.
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Below are five of these unhealthy habits, and while you might even be doing one of them this very minute, thankfully they can all be fixed.
Whether it’s a hot summer’s day, part of a meal deal, you just want a sugar fix, knocking back a fizzy drink is no doubt one of the worst habits of the modern world.
Not only have multiple studies shown strong links between sugary drinks and cardiovascular disease, your risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, tooth decay and reproductive issues dramatically increase.
If you really crave that sugar fix, try substituting the soda for a freshly squeezed fruit juice (try these!) or even cold water. You might think you need the fizz, but you could simply just be thirsty.
Researchers from the University of Queensland found that smoking a single cigarette cuts your life by around 11 minutes, but studies have also shown that sitting stationary for just an hour – like we do when we watch television or work a desk job, can decrease your life expectancy by 21.8 minutes!
Get up regularly, even if you simply take a walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water or fix yourself a snack. Stretch while watching television or even pace while you gossip away on the phone.
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A lack of sleep can cause high blood pressure and obesity, and in severe cases can lead to brain damage, heart attack and stroke.
Studies have even shown that not getting at least six or seven hours of sleep each night can lead to heightened mortality rates comparable to cigarette smokers, so there’s really never been a better reason to hit the sack for your full eight hours.
A 2015 study found that adults on a high-animal-protein diet were 74 per cent more likely to die for any reason, and four times more likely to die from cancer.
Why? Because animal proteins contain high levels of IGF-1, a hormone that is known to promote the growth of cancer cells.
Try swapping out meat for other high-protein foods such as beans and yoghurt, or indulging in a veggie diet for even just one day a week with ‘meat-free Mondays’.
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According to a recent study from the University of Arizona, our cellphones contain 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.
Make it a point to clean your phone at least twice a week to keep your phone clean and be sure not to use your phone in the toilets!
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Text: www.bauersyndication.com