Are Your Healthy Habits Making You Ill?
By Sara Butler
You keep your house clean, you eat well, and you hit the gym most days of the week. You're doing everything right to contribute to your overall health and wellness, but still are getting sick. Why? Well, some of those healthy habits you have, if not done the right way, can actually lead to you getting sick. Here are a few healthy habits that, if taken too far (or not far enough), can have a detrimental impact on your health.
Sleep
Many people take the weekend to catch up on the sleep they missed out on during the week, but that's actually not a great philosophy to take. A regular sleep schedule is always going to be the better route, even if it hurts to think about getting up early on the weekends.
You can promote long-term health and wellness by sticking to a regular sleep schedule every day of the week, not simply on the weekends. Contrary to popular belief, you can't short yourself of sleep during the week and make up that deficit over the weekend. In fact, when Monday rolls around you'll lose any hours you've managed to gain and start Monday morning off tired due to not getting enough sleep the night before. If you do this all the time, then your immune system won't work as well and you'll end up getting sick.
Exercise
Regular exercise is a great way to bolster your immune system and set yourself up for good health. But if you increase your activity level too fast or your workout too much, then you actually make yourself more susceptible to illness.
Great activity plans make time for recovery days, so make sure you schedule days off that allow your body to rest and recover from your workouts to help keep your immune system functioning well.
Using Hand Sanitizer
If you use antibacterial hand sanitizers, then it's not contributing to your health in the way you've probably hoped. In fact, some antibacterial hand sanitizers have been linked to antibiotic resistance which means that it's helping to make some bacterial illnesses more difficult to treat. You're far better off using alcohol-based hand sanitizer or simply using soap and water to wash your hands when you need to.
Every once in a while, it's important to stop and think about your habits. As information changes, then it may become apparent that a habit you once thought of as healthy is really anything but.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Lake Forest, Calif.