There are unnoticeable but harmful habits that gradually undermine our health and vitality. We often ignore their influence until the body begins to protest, manifesting itself in the form of various ailments, pain, decreased energy and performance.

Habit one: chronic lack of sleep

Doctors consider systematic lack of sleep to be one of the most serious problems of our time, affecting a large part of the population. The modern pace of life forces people to reduce their sleep time: if in the 1960s a person slept on average 8 hours, today this figure has dropped to 6,5 hours. The situation is aggravated by constant stress, causing sleep disorders.

Many people try to compensate for the lack of sleep on weekends by practicing so-called “sleep bulimia”. However, scientists from Northwestern University (Illinois) have established the ineffectiveness of this approach. The body is able to compensate for the sleep deficit without consequences only during the next day. Regular accumulation of sleep deprivation leads to increased irritability, depressive states, and weight gain.

Habit two: Diet mania

The next destructive habit is disguised as a desire for a healthy lifestyle – it is constant attempts to lose weight with the help of various diets.

Diet followers are divided into three categories. The first group manages to achieve the desired weight, but after returning to a normal diet, the kilograms quickly return, causing stress and new attempts to lose weight. 

The second group does not withstand the restrictions and, returning to a normal diet, gains even more weight than they had initially.

The third group is the most persistent, constantly experimenting with new diets or repeating the same one cyclically. These people especially suffer from guilt for unachieved goals, punish themselves with even more severe restrictions, constantly feel hungry and often suffer from a deficiency of essential nutrients.

If they gave up endless diets in favor of a balanced diet combined with physical activity, the desired result would be achieved naturally.

Habit three: Abuse of coffee

Excessive coffee consumption poses a serious threat to health. Doctors recommend limiting yourself to two cups a day, but many significantly exceed this norm, trying to maintain performance. It is important to understand that coffee does not generate energy, but only borrows it from the body. The more such “borrowings”, the more serious the consequences: sleep disturbances, increased nervousness, possible development of depression. Energy drinks have an even more dangerous effect.

Habit 4: Lack of movement and oxygen starvation

Oxygen deficiency is another factor that exhausts the body. Most people spend a minimum of time outdoors. Even urban air, despite its pollution, is significantly superior in quality to indoor air. Oxygen starvation slows down metabolism and causes rapid fatigue.

A sedentary lifestyle has become a real scourge of modern times. It has been scientifically proven that regular physical activity not only reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and depression, but also significantly affects life expectancy. This is confirmed by a long-term study by the University of South Carolina, which observed a group of 2600 elderly people for 12 years. The results showed that the effect of physical activity on longevity exceeds even the value of a normal body mass index.

Resource: medcentrnorma.ru