7 Odd Tips for Healthy Living: Part 1

Sometimes, it’s in the most unlikely places that we find great advice, tricks, and tips. Your health and lifestyle is no different and can almost certainly benefit from some ideas that might seem out of the ordinary or against the grain. We’ve put together a list of some of the best “weird advice” out there for living a healthy lifestyle.

  1. Drink Coffee for a Better Nap: We can thank the Japanese for this one! Japanese researchers conducted a study that examined how to make the most of a nap. They found that those who drank approximately 200 mg of caffeine (one to two cups of coffee), then immediately took a 20 minute rest, awoke feeling more alert and out-performed their non-coffee drinking counterparts on computer tasks. It works because the caffeine starts to kick in just as you are waking up and clears the brain of a molecule called adenosine, maximizing alertness.
  2. Help Your Teeth by Not Brushing After Eating: Don’t brush your teeth immediately after meals and drinks, especially if they were acidic. Acidic foods—citrus fruits, sports drinks, tomatoes, soda (both diet and regular)—can soften tooth enamel making brushing at this stage speed up acid’s effect on your enamel and erode the layer underneath. Gamble suggests waiting 30 to 60 minutes before brushing.
  3. Weigh Less by Eating More: We all like to think diets are the answer, often times they can really help people start their fitness journey. However, some people occasionally fall into “diet traps” which can slow down the positives. This brings us to tiny snacks. Companies like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and others boast 100-calorie snack bags of pretzels or things but in reality these make you more hungry. Small amounts of empty carbs increase your appetite making you more likely to eat too much. This is why nutritionists and doctors suggest more substantial snacks to stave off hunger and more effectively fuel your body. Try things like peanut butter and celery or low fat cheese with an apple.
  4. Bloated? Drink Water: When you feel bloated, drinking water sounds as if it would only make matters worse, but it can often help, says James Lee, MD, gastroenterologist with St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California. Water mixes with water soluble fiber and makes it into a gel like substance. This affects the motility of the gut and reduces the symptom of bloating. Water also relieves bloating caused by dehydration. When you’re dehydrated, your body clings to the water your body does have, causing you to puff up.
  5. Cool Off with a Hot One: Ditch the iced latte for its hi-temp counterpart! When you sip a hot beverage, your body senses the change in temperature and increases your sweat production. Then, as the sweat evaporates from your skin, you cool off naturally.
  6. Exercise when you’re Tired:  After a long, exhausting workday, exercising sounds like the last thing you’d want to do, but getting your sweat on will actually energize you. Fatigue along with mood and depression improved after a single 30-minute moderate intensity workout, according to a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
  7. Stay Close by Spending Less Time Together: Absence makes the heart grow fonder! Not just some nice words, but doctor-backed advice. Spending time alone allows you to process your thoughts rather than act impulsively and, as a result, you get to know yourself better, says Elizabeth Lombardo, PhD. “Alone time enables you to be more in touch with yourself and can better give and receive,” Lombardo says. “In addition, it reduces stress and anxiety, which could also contribute to relationship strains.”
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