They’re second nature. You do them almost without thinking. But it turns out many of your so called “healthy habits” aren’t.
Don’t feel bad. You’re in good company and it’s definitely NOT your fault.
We all fall into the trap. Because we’ve practically been brainwashed into believing they’re good for us based on some super popular health myths that simply won’t die.
Myths such as you should stop eating fats, eggs are bad for you and even you should avoid sitting on public toilet seats at all costs.
Some “healthy habits” aren’t as healthy as you think
Following are three common “healthy habits” which are far from healthy. In fact, you should drop all of them starting today
1. Following a strict low fat diet:
The low fat myth has been sold to us for decades. And if you take a tour through any grocery store, you can see we’ve bought it hook, line and sinker. Low-fat “healthy” products line the shelves. We can’t get enough of them, and we’re paying the price in the form of poor health.
You see fats aren’t inherently bad. They’re certainly not all the same. And avoiding all fats as if they’re the plague can make you sick in all kinds of little and big ways.
When you don’t eat enough of them, it can rob you of energy, dry out your skin and hair and even make it tough to lose weight. While eating plenty of good fats can reduce your risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia and cancer.
Even saturated fats aren’t exactly the ugly ogre we’ve been told they are. For years, we’ve been warned that saturated fats will send our risk for heart disease and stroke skyrocketing. And that they’re terrible for our overall health. But the research tells a different story.
In fact, researchers concluded in a meta-analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “…there is insufficient evidence from prospective epidemiologic studies to conclude that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD, stroke, or CVD…”1
And in a more recent study scientists found folks eating a high fat, low carbohydrate diet weren’t any more likely to develop heart disease than those on a low fat, high carb diet.2
But that’s not all. Those volunteers who began eating a very high fat diet actually had IMPROVEMENTS in blood pressure, triglyceride levels, insulin and blood sugar measurements.
In other words, healthy folks shouldn’t be living in fear of fats. Instead, eat a well-balanced diet and look for high quality sources of fat such as organic grass-fed meats, olive oil, coconut oil, wild caught fatty fish and avocados.
2. Squatting to pee:
Most of us would rather suffer through a dozen paper cuts then have to use a public bathroom. But they’re unavoidable. And for women, who have to sit EVERY single time they visit one, it can feel like some sort of torture.
Well, except we don’t sit do we ladies?
From a very young age, we learn that we should always hover when we pee in public bathrooms. We’re taught that this healthy habit will keep us safe from any germs lurking on the toilet.
The trouble is half squatting to pee could lead to some unexpected health complications. You see when you hover to urinate instead of sitting down you aren’t fully relaxing your pelvic floor muscles. Which means you may not be fully emptying your bladder.
That leftover pee leaves you prone to accidental leaks when you cough, laugh or sneeze. Even worse, the old urine can be irritating to your bladder making you have to go more often and possibly increasing your risk for urinary tract infections.
The truth is that toilet seat likely isn’t as germ ridden as you imagine anyway. In fact, testing has revealed many household objects we touch every day, such as our cell phones and computer keyboards, are far filthier.
Go ahead and use the paper seat covers if they’re available, or line the seat with some toilet paper if you like. Simply wiping off the seat works too. In a pinch, hovering every now and then shouldn’t hurt. But try not to make it a habit any longer.
3. Sticking to just egg whites:
One doctor friend of mind always referred to eggs as “the perfect food.” But he was the exception to the rule. We were told eggs would raise our cholesterol for so long that even though this myth was busted long ago, many of us continue the “healthy habit” of avoiding eggs, or at least the yolks.
The truth is eating low fat and low cholesterol foods will not reduce your risk of heart disease. And for the vast majority of folks foods like eggs will not have any significant effect on your cholesterol.3,4,5
(Besides it’s not LDL cholesterol you should be most concerned about. Click here to find out what the true heart enemy is.)
Eggs are bursting at the seams with over a dozen important nutrients. For example, a whole egg will provide around…
- 22 percent of your recommended daily amount of selenium
- 15 percent of your riboflavin needs
- 11 percent of your vitamin D for the day
Plus eggs can help raise your “good” HDL cholesterol, protect your brain and eyes, help you lose weight and even reduce your risk of breast cancer.
If you’ve been practicing any of these three “healthy habits,” it’s time to drop them. They could be doing you far more harm than good.
References:
1. “Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease,” Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar; 91(3): 535–546
2. “Visceral adiposity and metabolic syndrome after very high-fat and low-fat isocaloric diets: a randomized controlled trial,” Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Jan;105(1):85-99
3.”Serum cholesterol response to changes in the die,” Metabolism Clinical and Experimental, July 1965, Volume 14, Issue 7, Pages 759–765
4. “Rethinking dietary cholesterol,” Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2012 Mar;15(2):117-21
5. “Dietary cholesterol provided by eggs and plasma lipoproteins in healthy populations,” Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2006 Jan;9(1):8-12
She is an advocate of self-education and is passionate about the power of group knowledge sharing, like the kind found right here on HealthierTalk.com. Alice loves to share her views on holistic and natural healing as well as her, sometimes contentious, thoughts on the profit-driven inner workings of traditional medicine.
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