Small Oversights That Are Damaging Your Health

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Staying on top of your health is difficult these days. You can try to do all of the basic things that keep you healthy, but that isn’t always enough. There are so many things that can have an adverse effect on your health that you hadn’t even considered. Regardless of what you do, if you don’t realize that you’re making these mistakes, you could end up developing health problems a few years down the line. In order to help you keep on top of things, watch out for these hidden health mistakes.

Working Too Much

Most of us are working too much these days. Hours are getting longer and holidays are few and far between. We’re all getting emails sent straight to our phones and tablets so it feels like there’s no way to escape. If this is you, you could seriously be damaging your health in a number of ways. Firstly, spending so much time rushing around working makes it far harder for you to find the time to eat properly and get some exercise. The second problem is that if you’re burning the candle at both ends, you’re going to be incredibly stressed out. High stress levels can lead to serious mental health issues, as well as damaging your physical health later in life. Without taking proper time out to relax, this stress will only get worse until it becomes too much to handle and you’ll do yourself some serious harm.

Being Too Clean

Being clean is obviously good for your health. If you don’t clean yourself and your house often enough, you are exposing yourself to more germs that can make you sick, however, you can take it too far the other way. There are so many antibacterial products out there and people tend to think that they’re good for you. But the truth is, if you’re using them too much, you could be doing yourself more harm than good. Your immune system benefits from small amounts of bacteria because it gives it a chance to build its strength and better resist disease. If you’re using antibacterial cleaning products all of the time, your immune system will be weak and you’ll be more susceptible to illness. Recent research has actually found that increases in allergies are linked to an increased reliance on these kinds of antibacterial cleaning products. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it all, but make sure that you aren’t going overboard.

Your Home

Your home could be a source of chemicals that are making you ill without you even realizing it. If you live or work in an older building, you could be exposed to asbestos which can cause serious illness in the long-term. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is usually caused by asbestos exposure. If you’ve been affected, you could have a case for compensation. Contact a mesothelioma law firm to see whether you have a case. You could be awarded the money that you’ll need to have it removed and make your house safe again.

Radon is another dangerous chemical that could be leaking into your house without you realizing. It tends to affect older houses that have damaged foundations. Radon is one of the leading causes of lung cancer so if you’re being exposed to it, you need to know right away.

Eating Too Little

When people are dieting, they often make the mistake of eating too little. Instead of changing their habits and making them healthier, they just start cutting down on the amount of food that they eat. This doesn’t make you healthier, it just means that your body isn’t getting all of the nutrients that you need. You should be eating the same amount that you normally would, but make sure that you’re eating fresh ingredients that are actually good for you instead. If you aren’t getting enough calories, your immune system can suffer so not only are you lacking in nutrients, but you’re also going to be more likely to get sick.

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Photo Credit

Washing Vegetables

It’s a common myth that you need to wash all of your vegetables before you use them. It’s true that you need to wash a lot of them because they haven’t been washed already and they’re coated in bacteria. However, any products that are packaged are usually pre-washed. If you are unwrapping them and throwing them into the sink, you’re probably covering them in all sorts of bacteria that’s sitting in the sink and making them far dirtier than they were to start with. Always check the labels before to see whether they’re pre-washed or not.

 

All of these small mistakes can quickly add up and seriously damage your health, so make sure that you avoid them. 

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Beat the Bloat: 5 Simple Steps for Women

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Feeling bloated isn’t nice. It’s especially inconvenient when you’re getting ready to go to an event, you slip on that beautiful dress you bought for the occasion and your stomach sticks out a mile. It doesn’t matter if you avoid gorging on a huge pizza every Friday night. For women, bloating can be part of our natural cycles. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to avoid it. Here are simple remedies for beating the bloat.

Avoid Sugar Free Candy

You may think you’re doing yourself a favor by avoiding sugar. After all, sugar does cause us to put on weight. However, a lot of sugar-free candy or gums are filled with artificial sweeteners, like aspartame or sorbitol. These ingredients aren’t easy for the body to digest, so they just sit there, right in the center of your stomach. This causes you to bloat. So, when you want to avoid bloating, you’re actually better off sticking to the sugary stuff, or better yet, switch to natural sugars in fruit instead.

Take Your Time

It’s possibly down to the limited time most of us have to take a break, but many of us are eating faster than we ever have before. When you eat quickly, you tend to swallow a lot of gas at the same time. Eating quickly means your body isn’t given as much time to digest your food and the gas sits in your stomach along with it. Both cause bloating. Try taking more time with your food, or if you really can’t afford a longer break, drink a Skinny Tea along with your meal. The organic ingredients will help aid digestion and avoid bloating.

Avoid Stress

Easier said than done, right? However, it’s especially important for women to avoid as much stress as possible. Stress can cause hormonal imbalances which can lead to constipation or diarrhea, both of which can cause bloating. If you feel like you’re becoming overwhelmed, it’s always best to take time out. You could go for a walk while at work, ask your partner to watch the kids while you take a long bath or even go to an exercise class. Taking time out regularly will help to improve stress levels and mental health.

Exercise

Many women believe that bloating can be solved by losing weight. It can’t. Bloating isn’t necessarily weight gain. In fact, it’s often linked to anything but your weight. However, exercise can help you to deal with bloating. It can help you to regulate your meal times and meal portions, it can regulate your bowel movements and help you to stay hydrated.

See Your Doctor

There are times when bloating could mean something more sinister than last night’s big meal. If you’re persistently bloated, it’s important to visit your doctor and have a check-up. It could be that you have a gluten or lactose intolerance and some professional advice on dietary changes, or bloating has also been linked to ovarian cysts and ovarian cancer.

 

Living with bloating can really make you miserable, so give these tips a try and see if they can improve your quality of life.

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Ways Vanity Can Be Good For You

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Everybody’s a little bit vain. Some people are just a little more open about it than others. You can’t help but inspect yourself in the mirror each morning; appearance is something that we give great important. Of course, none of that means anything if you only strive to “look” healthy and not actually “be” healthy. The greatest way to achieve the former is to strive for the latter. You can use vanity as the motivation to start looking after your body better, but the key here is that you should be doing things which are genuinely making you healthier and not just making you “look” healthier. Here are some ways in which vanity can be a good thing for you.

Getting into shape the right way.

Getting into shape is pretty much impossible when it feels like a chore, so you need to think about a way to approach exercise and healthy eating which suits your lifestyle. You could try small tricks such as switching your large dining plates for smaller ones so as to force yourself to prioritize healthier carbohydrates and nutrients in your meals rather than overloading on unnecessary extra food. Everything should be eaten in moderation (even healthy fruits and vegetables), so smaller dining plates could help with that. Making substitutions with empty carbs for nutritional carbs is also important.

 In terms of keeping your body active, don’t force the gym or cycling if neither of those activities are exciting to you. You want a form of exercise that you can stick to because it fits nicely in your routine. Perhaps walking or jogging are relaxing to you because you can enjoy the scenery of your local park as you do so. Perhaps you’ve always been keen on martial arts or swimming; there are so many different ways to get your body moving, so just find something that suits you. Maintaining muscle strength and cardiovascular health is important for your heart and your body as well as your appearance in the mirror.

The smart route to pearly whites.

Everybody wants white teeth, but not everybody cares about whether they’re healthy or not; you may have had them whitened, but does that say anything about plaque build-up or the healthiness of your gums? You should be flossing as well as brushing your teeth; avoiding plaque and tar build-up is the smartest way to avoid gum disease and other health problems with your teeth or mouth in general. You could always consider affordable dental care if you were put off visiting your last clinic regularly because of the expense, as your health shouldn’t be something that you have to put a price on; you should always prioritize it, and that goes without saying.

Sleeping well can improve your appearance.

Those bags under your eyes and your slouching posture are both things which diminish your appearance. Both could be improved by simply sleeping well because better energy levels mean better concentration and better posture in your office chair or at home (rather than slowly sinking into your seat as you begin to doze off). Of course, sleeping well is important for your body so many different ways. It’s not just about getting enough sleep but sleeping in a bed which supports your body and its posture. You don’t want to have aches and pains throughout the day; ensure your mattress is supportive. Ideally, you should change them every seven years.

Looking after your mind.

You might be wondering how your mental state could possibly affect your physical appearance, but there’s a clear link between the body and the mind. Your stress levels, for example, can have a huge effect on your facial appearance. Blemishes such as acne definitely flare up during periods of intense stress, so it’s important to work on taking better care of your mental health. Practice meditating to focus on centering yourself, and you might notice the physical benefits.

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