We are all well aware of the adverse health effects of habits such as smoking or eating fast food, which becomes the root cause of cancer, obesity, and many other diseases. But we indulge in many activities that are equally detrimental to our health throughout the day. If you are well aware of not-so-apparent habits that can be detrimental to your health, you can make better decisions and improve your health. Knowing these habits is the first step in leading a healthy lifestyle.
These small habits may look harmless on the surface but can negatively alter your entire system. They can affect your physical health, mental health, and relationships. For example, looking at yourself in the mirror too much does not sound harmful, but this can be dangerous for your self-esteem. While it’s good to appreciate your looks, paying too much attention can trick your mind into finding faults in how you look or shape your body. Low self-esteem can then push you into making the wrong decisions regarding appearance and diet. You can prevent these habits by identifying them and changing them. Here are some of the habits you did not know could be detrimental to your health.
Rehashing Stressful Events
Thinking about stressful events from your past is pretty normal, but this habit can be the source of numerous psychological problems. You are more likely to feel depressed or anxious if you keep recalling stressful events. Rather than focus on these events, divert your energy towards positive things. Indulging less in rumination can help you deal with depression, anxiety, and overthinking. Often, we don’t recognize that some health problems we may be facing are caused due to psychological distress rather than physical ones.
Health workers continually recommend giving your mind a break from overthinking so that it has space and energy to stay fit and active. These workers have relevant qualifications like an online MPH which equip them with trustable knowledge in such fields, so it’s best to heed their advice, suggests Pearson.com.
Bringing Electronic Devices To Bed
In the age of smart devices, it is usual to bring them to bed with us. But using such devices while in bed is not suitable for your sleep. These devices disrupt your natural mechanism for sleep by disturbing the amount of melatonin in your brain. Your brain produces melatonin in a dark environment which helps you in sleeping. Electronic devices disrupt this production and, thus, can result in sleep issues. Hence, lately, there has been a significant rise in insomnia and other sleep problems in people worldwide, according to Harvard. The best method to overcome this problem is to stop using your electronic devices before bedtime. If you have a hard time doing so, you should start using a night light option on your phone and laptops, eliminating the blue light.
Skipping sleep
Staying up late at night due to work or just because you are having fun may seem alright for a little while, but it can be seriously detrimental to your health. When you delay your sleep, it causes a release of a stress hormone known as ‘cortisol.’ Most bodily functions require you to rest properly so they can work effectively. Otherwise, lack of sleep and stress hormones can affect your mood, mental capabilities, and even cognitive abilities.
Working on your sleep hygiene is vital for your good health. Most adults require 8 hours of sleep to function properly throughout the day. Avoid working in your bed and have separate areas designated for every activity. When you are using your bed only for sleep, your body remembers that it is time to sleep when you get in your bed.
Being Overly Strict With Your Health Plan
Taking care of yourself by keeping your diet in check is good, but being overly strict can cause issues. When you have a strict plan, it is natural to deviate from it, thus causing you to feel guilty. When they cannot follow these strict plans, most people go back to their regular unhealthy diet. It is essential to leave room for a little cheat day in your diet every once in a while so that you won’t have any problem carrying on with it. Health goals require consistency, so it would be wise to sustain your health plans for extended periods.
Using Plastic Containers
Our busy routines often don’t leave us much time to cook a proper meal three times a day. In such a case, a common practice is planning your meals and cooking at the weekend to save time. Although it is a good habit, there is a high chance that you are using plastic containers to store future meals. There is no doubt that plastic containers are easy to use and disposable, but they are unsafe. These containers have BPA in them, a chemical that can affect your appetite, causing several issues like negatively affecting your weight loss progress, recommends MayoClinic. But do not fret, as there are plastic containers that are free of BPA. Just make sure that the ones you buy and use are BPA-free.
Conclusion
It is common knowledge that your health is affected by your habits. Unfortunately, many seemingly regular habits are detrimental to your health that we all tend to ignore. If you want to improve your health, you must also focus on these habits. Keeping an eye out for little things like taking care of your sleep, using plastic containers free of BPA, and ruminating less, you can avoid many health-related issues and lead a happier, healthier life.