We all have bad habits, but did you know they may be negatively impacting your health? Check out these five bad habits and learn how your quality of life could change as soon as you kick them:

Skipping breakfast

Do you often run late and skip breakfast? Skipping the most important meal of the day may not be worth the time saved. Not only can doing this effect your weight, hormonal health, memory, and cognition, it may also negatively impact your overall mood. According to the National Institutes of Health, skipping breakfast may lead to rapid heart rate, shakiness, dizziness, headaches, and overall weakness. Next time you are in a hurry, think of your health, and at least grab a high-protein snack on the way out!

Smoking

When it comes to quitting smoking, every minute counts. Quitting smoking will improve your health over time, but you actually benefit within 20 minutes after smoking your final cigarette! Immediate benefits include lowered heart rate and blood pressure, improved circulation and lung function, as well as a lowered carbon monoxide level in your blood. Long term benefits include a decrease in coughing and shortness of breath, as well as improved functionality of the lungs. Quitting smoking also greatly lowers your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, larynx, and pancreas.

Sugar

Sugar is not one of the main food groups! While kicking a sugar habit isn’t easy, the short and long term benefits can greatly improve your health and quality of life. Benefits of excluding sugar from your diet include fewer wrinkles, healthier skin, decreased weight and belly fat, and higher energy levels. Not only will you not have to deal with the “sugar crash,” but quitting sugar may also lessen your chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

Caffeine

Getting ready to fill that second cup of coffee? You, along with thousands of others, may not realize how harmful caffeine addiction is to us. First is the financial impact, as you can save hundreds of dollars a year by avoiding caffeine. Next, caffeine has a half-life of around 5 hours, so consuming caffeine too close to bedtime can affect sleep cycle. Additionally, avoiding caffeine may lower your blood pressure, decrease anxiety, improve teeth health, and aid in weight loss. Next time you reach for that coffee cup, replace it with a bottle of water!

Sleep Deprivation

We’ve all pulled an all-nighter once or twice, but even one night of disrupted sleep may cause immediate negative effects. Skipping a night of sleep may lead to difficulty thinking, mood changes, decreased concentration, a weakened immune system, and high blood pressure. Along with irritability, lack of sleep may also affect your energy level and ability to maintain a healthy weight since we are less motivated to work out when exhausted. Even lying down for a few hours beats an entire night with no sleep!

Related Articles

We would love to learn what would be helpful on this page for you.

Articles by tag

2020 4th-of-July aberdeen ACLS AED air-purificaiton allentown Allergies amerigroup announcement Antibiotics anxiety Asthma autumn award awards back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best-Of best-of-2019 best-of-award best-of-awards best-workplace bethlehem Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS blue-cross blue-shield capital-gazette careers children with disabilities Cholesterol Circadian-Rhythm cold-prevention colon-cancer concussion coronavirus covid-19 COVID-19-Test CPR cramp-prevention Dehydration dental-health depression Dermatitis Diabetes drowning drug screening Dry-Skin eastern-pa easton Eating-Disorders employees Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health face-mask fall fall-sports First-Aid Fitness Flu flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football for moms for-moms for-parents fredericksburg free-play Generation-X-Health gift-ideas Good-Fats Halloween hand foot and mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg Head-Lice Health-History health-symptoms healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps heart-disease heart-health heat-exhaustion Heat-Safety hiking holiday Holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-cross horizon-blue-shield horizon-insurance Humidifier hydration inclusivity inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention insurance jetlag Kidney Kwanzaa lehigh-valley life-support-class lyme maryland meal-prep Meatless-Monday mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma memory-retention Men's-Health Mental-Health millennial montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Movember new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year northern-va northern-virginia nova nurtition Nutrition occupational health osteoporosis outdoors PALS parent tips parenting Parenting-Tips patient-first pennsylvania pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Pregnancy Probiotics pumpkin recipe recipes registration reicpes resolutions richmond running safety safety-tips services Setting-Goals shin-splings sick kid Sickness-Prevention skin sleep Smoke-Detector smoking soccer sore-throat south-jersey sports sports-physicals spotsylvania Spring spring-cleaning St.-Patrick's-Day stafford Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress stress-managment stroke summer summer-sports Sun-Safety sunscreen Swimmer's-ear swimming TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething tick ticks tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace traveling-tips travel-tips unitedhealthcare urgent-care Urinary-health vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentine's-Day Valentines-Day Vitamin-D volunteering walking washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 Weight-Lifting wellness Winter yard-work Yearly-Physical