These 10 Things Could Be Impacting Your Health
You probably know that a fast-food diet coupled with a two-pack-a-day habit doesn’t do your health any favors. However, did you know that other, seemingly innocuous practices can do a number on your well-being?
There’s more to safeguarding your mental and physical self than avoiding drugs and triple-decker burgers. The ten things below could be impacting your health. Examine your lifestyle today for increased vigor and lust for life tomorrow.
1. Your Indoor Air
When was the last time you changed your HVAC filter? If it’s been a while, you could put unnecessary strain on your system and potentially damage it. Worse, you could adversely impact your health.
Germs can spread quickly if your home or office becomes stale from inadequate ventilation and dirty ducts. Change your filters at least every three months, more frequently if you live with pets and smokers. Consider adding some houseplants, which cleanse toxins like formaldehyde, and open windows whenever the weather permits.
2. The Way You Breathe
Are you what Eleven from “Stranger Things” would call a mouth-breather? We don’t mean in the pejorative sense but the descriptive one. If you do inhale with your jaw gaping, you could impact your health.
Your nasal passages filter out pollen and dust before they can enter your lungs and cause harm. That’s because tiny hairs line your airways to serve as a natural sieve. Please see a doctor to determine the reason why you don’t breathe through your sniffer to correct the problem.
3. Your Beverage of Choice
There’s nothing better for you than plain water, but some people can’t stomach the stuff. If you fall into this category, try adding fruit for flavor. If the lack of bubbles causes intestinal upset, a Sodastream or similar carbonation device can help you avoid soda.
Please avoid the sugary stuff lest you increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 26%. Additionally, cut down on the wine with dinner. Your body burns alcohol before any nutrients and lowers your inhibitions. You could consume more calories that stick to your waistline.
4. Your Chair
Does your back scream at you by days’ end? An improperly fitting chair could be the culprit if you are a cubicle jockey. Plus, you increase your risk of degenerative disk disease, which can cause severe pain.
Look into alternatives. Standing desks help some with chronic lower back pain by allowing them to transition from seated to upright. Exercise balls are another option. They force you to engage your core, plus they let you lay back and stretch your lumbar vertebrae as needed.
5. How Frequently You Stand
Maybe you heard the saying, “Sitting is the new smoking.” While your desk job isn’t the equivalent of smoking a pack of Marlboros daily, you should move more or face negative health impacts.
Set a timer on your phone to remind you to rise and stretch every 30 minutes. Use your 15-minute breaks to take a stroll instead of staying seated and scrolling social media.
6. Your Overbearing Supervisor
Does your boss habitually add more items to your plate than you can handle — on Friday afternoon? Maybe they find nothing but flaws with your performance but never utter a positive word.
That stress could do considerable damage to your ticker. Researchers in Australia put people under stress and studied their brains with functional MRIs. They discovered that changes in your head might rewire your body to keep your blood pressure high, even if you avoid salt, smoking and alcohol. Perhaps you should dust off your resume?
7. Your Exposure to Light
If you have seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the changing seasons might not come with visions of holiday happiness, but rather, long evenings spent in bed. You could find it challenging to muster the energy for anything as the days grow shorter.
Try to expose yourself to as much natural light as possible. Unless the weather proves forbidding, take your lunch break outdoors. Consider investing in a therapy lamp — they are available from many retailers with no prescription required.
8. Your Cosmetics
If your grooming routine includes parabens or phthalates, you could suffer hormonal trouble. These known endocrine disruptors can cause fertility problems or even pregnancy loss.
The solution? Switch to natural products. You can use castile soap to replace everything from your shaving cream to your shampoo. Coconut oil makes an excellent moisturizer, and you can slough away rough spots with brown sugar or oatmeal scrub.
9. Your Cleaning Products
Beauty products aren’t the only things that contain iffy chemicals. That host of cleaning products under your sink can aggravate allergies and cause headaches.
Instead, opt for natural cleaners. Castile soap works for multiple uses. Distilled vinegar plus borax can shine hardwood or tile floors, and straight hydrogen peroxide kills toxic mold and brightens your grout.
10. Your Shoes
Do you doff your dog covers when you enter your house? If you don’t, you could drag in umpteen germs and fecal matter that you deposit on your carpet.
Please consider installing a rack near your front door to keep the nastiness from contaminating the ground upon which your toddler crawls. It serves as a visual reminder to yourself and guests alike to shed their shoes when they enter.
Could These 10 Things Be Impacting Your Health?
Now that you know these ten things that could be impacting your health, you can safeguard yourself and your family. Here’s to improved well-being this fall and always.