Researchers from Harvard University have concluded that those who lead a healthy lifestyle have a much lower risk of various diseases, such as dementia, stroke or heart attack. This article discusses which healthy habits can help increase life expectancy and which can help you forget about psychological problems.
Strange Habits That Are Actually Good for Your Health
Toothbrush Out
Many dentists believe that brushing your teeth right after a meal is like trying to remove plaque with sandpaper. All foods (especially citrus fruits, vegetables, carbonated drinks) make the enamel of our teeth more sensitive to external influences.
After eating, you can rinse your mouth with plain water, or if you are used to brushing your teeth after each meal, wait at least 40-60 minutes.
Talking to Yourself
Talking to yourself can help you focus and reduce stress levels, scientists say. One experiment found that when a person is looking for something and talks to themselves it helps them to visualize the object better and therefore find it better.
It was also found that it was even better to talk to oneself in the third person. According to another study, when people call themselves by their first name while talking to themselves, they are able to think more clearly and regulate their emotions better, because this way they look at a problem from a different perspective and can abstract away from the situation.
Drinking Water
Make it a habit to drink more pure, non-carbonated water instead of sodas, scientists advise. Water helps prevent kidney stones, nourishes the skin, and regulates body temperature. There are no studies that tell you exactly how many glasses of water you should drink a day – on the contrary, scientists believe that you should listen to your body and drink when you feel thirsty. To follow this rule, just place a bottle full of water at your deck and keep drinking while working or playing at 22betcasino.se.
Sleeping With No Clothes on
Sleeping naked is good for your health, according to scientists. Such sleep helps regulate body temperature, reduces stress levels, and increases metabolism. It’s also beneficial to sleep in a ventilated room. Those who prefer to sleep in a cool place have a better sleep, and the longer you sleep, the more the stress hormone cortisol level decreases, and you recover faster after a hard day’s work. We recommend leaving a window in the bedroom open at night, or to air the room well before going to sleep in winter, in summer – to air condition the room (just don’t forget to clean the air conditioner in time!).
Habits for Excellent Physique
Dancing
Scientists from France say that dancing is the best way to prolong life.
It turns out that salsa is especially useful: Latin American dance strengthens bones, improves the lungs and circulatory system, and even helps to cope with asthma. Any other active and fun dance will also do. The main thing is to move and enjoy it.
Practicing salsa or other couple dances will bring you not only positive emotions from communicating with your partner, but also will be a great opportunity to have a joint hobby with your soulmate, or to get acquainted if you don’t have one yet.
10,000 Steps
The 10,000-step rule originated in Japan in the 1960s as a marketing ploy: the company that invented one of the first pedometers was trying to get people involved in a healthy lifestyle. The practice is still popular today.
Doctors believe that 10,000 steps (about 8 kilometers) can help people burn about 500 calories a day and stay in great shape.
If you find it difficult to walk 8 km every day, British researchers suggest another way to maintain physical fitness – brisk walking three times a day for 10 minutes. It turned out that brisk walking is not only more suitable for modern lifestyle but also more useful.
How to Form Useful Habits
Start Small
In the beginning, your only goal is to incorporate these good daily habits into your routine in order to increase your growth hormone. You can start with the bare minimum: add your favorite fruits and vegetables to your diet, spend 30 minutes less a day on social media, take more walks outdoors, and have a get-together with friends once a month.
Build up Your Pace
Once the habits become part of your daily life, push the limits a little more: walk for 30 minutes instead of 15, sleep seven to eight hours a day, allow yourself a little less alcohol and cigarettes than you’re used to.
Don’t Skip Two Consecutive
Don’t break the “chain” of good habits – you can even start a calendar on your wall and mark with a big cross the day you did what you needed to do: took a long walk, ate a healthy breakfast, didn’t sit on Instagram during your lunch hour. Your only task is to build up this “chain,” and if one day you forgot or were unable to do something, do the “error work” and start over the next day.
So, leading a healthy lifestyle is not that difficult: the main thing is attention, persistence and patience. And, of course, you must understand that you are ready to change your life for the better and find time in your usual lifestyle for something new. And after a while, when you can adjust to the changes, they will become just a part of your daily routine, and before you know it, your life will change for the better.