How to live longer and better: 12 habits to avoid

Self-medicate, even with acetaminophen

Self-medicate, even with paracetamol

Self-medication causes a lot of problems. Even if it is the "innocent" paracetamol. A safe drug even for pregnant women in controlled doses, but if it is abused it also has risks. In fact, its repeated and excessive consumption can lead, over time, to a dangerous and difficult to detect overdose that can cause death. Do not exceed 4 g per day and avoid prolonged consumption without a prescription, as it can damage the liver.

A sedentary lifestyle makes you sick

Exercising is important, but it can also save your life and, even so, we are very sedentary. And this bad habit is as dangerous as smoking and worse than hypertension. A study from the University of Sydney (Australia) warned that spending more than 4 hours sitting a day increased the risk of cancer and shot up with more than 8. To avoid it, you do not need to practice intense exercise, simply walk 30 minutes a day. Find out how to get in shape without hitting the gym.

An unhealthy diet shortens life

Always resorting to precooked and cold cuts for dinner or having too much pastry are not harmless customs. If you do it every day, it raises your cholesterol, triglycerides, sugar and blood pressure. All of this could lead to a serious heart problem, obesity, and even cancer. In fact, a study from the University of Washington (USA) confirmed that poor diet was responsible for 200,000 more deaths than those caused by tobacco in Americans. Do you want to know if your diet is healthy? Take our test!

Alcohol intoxicates your body

No matter where you look at it, alcohol is a toxic substance for the body and can lead to many health problems: damage to the pancreas, liver, esophagus, various types of cancer such as breast cancer or malnutrition, as well as a higher risk of accident of traffic.

Is there a low risk consumption? Yes: 2 glasses of wine or beer a day for men and 1 for women.

Not sleeping hurts your heart and brain

A study from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) warned that sleeping less than five hours is as harmful to health as smoking. The study also noted that chronic sleep deprivation decreases empathy, learning skills, hinders thinking and favors impulsive behaviors, putting us at risk of having a traffic or work accident. Don't miss our 30 tricks to sleep like a baby.

Pollution reduces life expectancy

In Spain, 80% of the population breathe polluted air. In addition to respiratory problems and lung cancer, it also causes damage to the heart.

What can you do? If you live in a big city, find out the level of pollution before playing sports outdoors. Ventilate your house in the morning and in the afternoon. Go out into the mountains on weekends to give your lungs a break.

Too much sugar exposes you to diabetes

It's okay if you eat sugar in moderation. But overshooting is linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. The problem is that many foods have hidden sugar, so you can be taking too much without realizing it.

Where is it hidden? Read the labels well and detect all the "ose" (maltose, dextrose, sucrose, fructose, glucose …); Although it does not add sugar, these substances do provide it. Syrups, syrups or syrups are also sugar.

Too much stress and overtime

Occasional stress is normal, but if it becomes chronic it can lead to heart disease, depression, and even cancer. According to the Spanish Heart Foundation (FEC), it may be behind 40% of deaths that occur due to heart problems. Get rid of stress by following these 5 steps.

Going over salt makes you sick without warning

Excess salt promotes fluid retention, overweight and hypertension. But having high blood pressure does not cause symptoms, which is why it is called the silent disease. Prevention is the most powerful weapon we have. How much salt can you have? 6 grams (one teaspoon). The problem is that all foods contain and it is easy to overdo it. As a rule, avoid foods that provide more than 500 mg of sodium per 100 g.

Too much sun, risk of skin cancer

With 20 minutes of sun you get all its benefits (vitamin D to fix calcium in the bones and serotonin to have a good mood). But if you go overboard, your risk of skin cancer increases. Especially if you are a user of solar cabins, since they cause more skin cancer than tobacco lung cancer.

Poor dental hygiene and heart attacks

There is a clear relationship between gum disease and heart disease, warns the Spanish Society of Cardiology. When the gums become infected, we swallow the bacteria, which enter the bloodstream, adhere to the blood vessels, and allow clots to form. These decrease blood flow to the heart, causing blood pressure to rise and increasing the risk of a heart attack.

Toxic gases in your home

Exposure to gases like carbon monoxide can be worse than tobacco. It is an odorless and highly toxic gas that kills thousands of people around the world. To avoid this, ventilate your house, check stoves and boilers. And if you can, install CO detectors, since poisoning symptoms can go unnoticed.

They say that "nothing is poison, everything is poison: the difference is in the dose." We reveal the bad habits that added and, above all, repeated every day, put your health at risk.

Although there are habits worse than smoking, cigarette smoking is still one of the biggest causes of premature death. Can there be things as bad or worse than smoking cigarettes? The truth is, yes. There are factors that when added up and, above all, repeated daily, expose us to falling seriously ill. We have reviewed the most harmful habits so that you can take out your best life insurance: prevention. You have them in our image gallery.

Live longer and better

If you avoid repeating bad habits and, above all, add them, you will live longer and better. And it is that repeating and abusing any harmful habit exposes you to die sooner or suffer diseases that will deteriorate your quality of life. It is not about stopping enjoying life, but about living it to the fullest in moderation.

Sleeping little, having an extra drink, not practicing exercise or going overboard with salt or sugar can shorten your life expectancy

How to lead a healthy life

It is very simple, basically it is about avoiding excesses, because even something as innocent as watching TV, for example, shortens life, since it has been shown that for every hour more of television life expectancy is reduced by 21 minutes . And, as the saying goes, "the poison is in the dose." To show another example: caffeine taken in moderation helps control migraines. But if it is abused (more than 4 cups a day) it endangers your health. Or antibiotics, which help fight diseases, but if they are abused, they stop being effective and become harmful.