10 bad habits that aren’t actually that harmful

Our whole life consists of habits – some of them are considered useful and we strive to cultivate them in ourselves, and some of them are considered useless or even harmful. But what if there are habits about which we are wrong?

We have collected 10 habits that are not as harmful as they seem.

Irina Borisovna Yuzup

Nutriciologist, specialist in integrative and preventive medicine

Tells about “harmful” habits that are actually even useful.

Skip breakfast

Since childhood, we are told that breakfast is the most important meal. This is perfectly reasonable: we need energy for the whole day. In reality, breakfast is a very important meal. Why?

It helps kick-start a “sleepy” digestive tract and provides the first energy for brain cells to work. The only question is what and for whom is considered “breakfast”.

Of course, there are theses that have never been established as “absolute facts” in an evidentiary way. For example, that by skipping breakfast, a person disrupts their entire metabolism. Or “skipping breakfast promotes overeating throughout the day”. Such processes are purely individual, related to genetic features, habits, psychological state and many other factors.

Summary – there is no absolute norm. There is a huge variety of food schemes, diets, rules, time frames, but everything is very individual. We can not say with certainty that skipping breakfast leads to pathology. But we also can not say that breakfast is useless.

Today we eat and live by different laws. Late bedtime shifts the last meal. Yes, night time is allotted to us to restore strength, additional digestion of food – to no purpose. But you can eat, preferably at least 40 minutes before bedtime and unsweetened food (insulin spikes at night can provoke the development of diabetes).

High-carbohydrate (starchy, sweet) foods can also inhibit hormone production due to their high energy content. If there are problems with the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract), it is better to give up protein (protein foods take a long time to digest) and fatty foods.

A healthy person will not hurt to snack on a small piece of lard (or salad with vegetable oil). At night, bile production is activated, so a little of the right fats in the evening will be beneficial.

What is better to eat in the evening and at night? If there are no intestinal problems – cucumbers, leafy vegetables, zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli. Vegetable oils, legumes, buckwheat (and vegetable protein). Light cheeses (white, sheep and goat), yogurts on nut, goat milk.

Drink coffee

It is proven that coffee, obtained from good raw materials and consumed in reasonable quantities, has a huge number of advantages. For example, it contains many times more antioxidants than other beverages. They fight inflammation and premature aging. Especially with aging of the brain.

But there are problems. Coffee is ruthlessly processed. The berries of coffee trees are sprayed, which attracts insects.

Coffee is extremely acidic. In some varieties, the pH drops to 4.85 and below. This acid creates a favorable environment for viruses, bacteria and fungi, particularly yeast fungi.

Also, coffee is not good for everyone. It is a “native” product, not all organisms have genetically adapted to it, so drinking coffee can cause immune failure – purely genetically.

You can and should drink coffee, but it is important to do it correctly: choose organic coffee, grind and brew the beans yourself. Do not make a choice in favor of sublimates and powder, in these types of coffee drinks there is no benefit.

Therefore, the best option – running, active games, hiking, biking in the morning and evening, when the sun is not at its zenith, but still shines and warms, while releasing the vitamin D we need.

More and more studies confirm the fact that ultraviolet light negatively affects the growth of malignant skin neoplasms. Therefore, it is important to use protective creams, avoid direct sunlight from 12 to 15 hours (approximately). Dangerous is not so much a tan as a burn, it is sunburns (especially frequent) – a risk factor for the development of melanoma.

But long-term gambling addiction can lead to diseases of psychological and psychiatric nature, pathologies of the musculoskeletal system due to prolonged sitting.

Eat fatty

The myth about the harmfulness of fatty food has brought us to the catastrophe of cardiovascular diseases, the epidemic of neurological disorders (RAS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s). The fact is that in the late 90’s nutritionists put forward the thesis – fatty foods raise blood cholesterol, and high cholesterol leads to heart attacks. But they completely forgot to inform about the fact that cholesterol is “good” and “bad”, so it is extremely important not to remove it, but to balance it.

“Degreasing” the diet is a factor in the development of many diseases. It is very important to eat butter (quality), vegetable oils, nuts, meat. This is the food that helped our ancestors to work, keep warm, carry and give birth to children.

BUT! It is important not to consume trans fats. Their body practically does not digest them, they circulate in the blood for a long time and cause inflammation.

Chewing gum

If anyone has ever told you that chewing gum helps you focus (or maybe you’ve noticed it yourself?), you know there’s some truth to it. While chewing doesn’t correlate much with the rules of etiquette, it can effectively reduce stress levels and improve alertness. Chewing gum is good for both short-term and long-term memory. Therefore, it can be used when you need to internalize a large amount of information.

It is worth dividing gum into sweet (with added sugar) and unsweetened (sugar-free). Also – natural gum (from rice flour, chikla, vegetable components) and non-natural (in the composition of such – rubber base, sweeteners, stabilizers, a lot of E-components). Gum – a stick about two ends. Harmless enough, if the composition is natural, and the process of chewing takes no more than 5 minutes.

Do not wash every day

Washing should not be done every day at all. Especially with the use of chemicals. Our skin is an important barrier organ. It lets in the substances we need and blocks out the dangerous ones. Unfortunately, it lets chemicals through with the water.

In addition, daily bathing with soaps, shampoos and other products constantly alkalinizes the skin. The normal balance of the skin, like the rest of the body, is not acidic, but not alkaline either. There should be a golden mean.

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It is also worth recalling an important element, even an organ of our body – the microbiome. This is the collective name of all the microorganisms (bacteria mostly) that live in and on us. Most of them in a healthy person are not pathogenic, but on the contrary – useful. The skin is also covered with microorganisms. It is very important to take care of our “symbionts” that help us. And not to clean them with soap and loofah.