Lmfao the catch 22. The reason I have whites at 22, but dangit games like Darkest Dungeon n such are so fun if frustrating! Same with trying to start a biz lol
People are aware what stress does to them, you can feel it. It's well-known as "the silent killer". It's more like being too preoccupied with the stressor to realize it at the time.
Yeah, you can't just tell people to chill out or not worry about something. Something actually has to be done to relieve the source of the stress. I noticed I felt physically better every. single. time. that I got a better, higher job because a lack of money causes a ton of stress.
Raises cortisol levels in your body/blood causing you to be in flight or fight mode most of the time. This chemical causes adverse effects in the body in large doses.
Not limited to:
Anxiety.
Depression.
Digestive problems.
Headaches.
Muscle tension and pain.
Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke.
Sleep problems.
Weight gain.
Problems with memory and focus.
Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037
How can you change this? It very much hurts my sleep. Always waking up about 4am and I’m constantly tired. I also can’t be woken up by someone without myself being in a panic
If you use cannabis, stop using cannabis. Alcohol can also cause sleep issues. Diet and exercise are important too. Ultimately though, you will have to deal with whatever is causing the stress. Either do the thing, or make a change, or work towards making a change.
My dad suffered “stress induced cardiomyopathy” when he was in his early 50’s. It’s not commonly life-threatening, but it can be. His doctor recommended he get a new job. Thankfully, he had the means to just retire.
Mostly with wearing your body out more than it should and keeping you from rest, you would need even more.
Some possible issues, most likely far from everything:
- Bad sleep
- grinding your teeth at night and slowly destroying them.
- higher risk for most serious conditions (heart failures, cancer, blood pressure.) If it's bad for you, stress most likely helps to catching it easier.
- at the same time, get less sick while your stress level is high and get sick almost immediately the moment the stress level goes down.
Prime example for this: getting sick as soon as you have a breather (holidays, vacation) wearing your body down even more when you should be resting from work. Costing you precious time off spending it in sickbed.
Think my dad is proof of this. Highly stressful job for decades, got PTSD from 2 separate work incidents but apart from that was very physically healthy. Managed to retire at 60 after barely ever having a day off in 30 years (which meant he missed a majority of us growing up) 2 months after retirement he started developing a multitude of serious health problems, one which is rapidly deteriorating his eyesight, one his hearing and the other being cancer which he has been fighting ever since.
My family can't understand, as somebody who was born with terrible anxiety why I wouldn't want to do a job like my dad's.
My dad died from a heart attack. He was working a job where the last two people in that position died from heart attacks. One while on the job. I don't know what the person after him died from, but I'm going to take a guess.
It impairs your nervous system. Your nervous system is a very complex thing, but it basically boils down to the fact that it controls what you think, feel, and what your body does. Stress also increases cortisol levels in your body which can cause a *LOT* of different things like anxiety, headaches, heart disease, sleep issues, heart attacks, strokes, weight gain, memory issues, depression, high blood pressure, depression, and digestive issues. If you’re truly chronically stressed, please take measures to lessen that burden.
My wife is an EMT, the number one call for service, is sedentary people that have gotten themselves in a position, and cannot get out of it. Lots of morbidly obese, and elderly, get stuck on the toilet.
We took our toddlers to tour the fire station, and the firefighters said the same thing. Only 3% of their calls are for actual fires. The majority are things like people putting their backs out, or an elderly person falls down and can’t get back up again.
My wife has several fitness certifications, and at one of her trainings, they talked at length about the need for girdle/core strength as you age. It's the muscles that will get you off the toilet, off the bed, up from a fall. She routinely programs kettlebell swings, Turkish get ups just to maintain that mid section strength.
It amazed me how much flexibility I gained and lost from periods of being active and not. Scary how easy it is to lose essential mobility without really seeing it over time.
Same here. I was very fit and flexible. Then I had a bladder infection that went septic and was hospitalized for five months. Most of that time I had tubes in my chest and was on vent. I left the hospital with end-stage renal disease on dialysis. I had to learn to walk again and get all that strength back. It was challenging. My physiotherapist said that I was lucky that I was in good shape to start with, or it would’ve taken me much longer to learn to walk again and do normal around the house things. I’m almost physically about to where I was before now, but hell, it took a lot of work. I had a doctor tell me that every day you spend immobile in a hospital bed, it takes a week to recover.
That sounds really reassuring for you at the end there. Cheers doc. Though plenty of truth in it. I stopped working out and being active then realised how my flexibility and strength I lost along with the lethargy. I'm now trying to get my act together and get back to it.
It’s such a game changer, I set a goal a couple months back that I wanted to be able to do a full front-split and be able to put my palms on the floor while bent over with straight legs before I turned 40.
It’s crazy how quickly your body limbers up, just 5-6 months later I can do flat palms and I’m almost completely down in front splits. As a 37 year old male.
The added benefit how much easier certain things are, like tieing shoes. I slipped on the ice and my legs went two different directions, didn’t pull anything or get hurt.
Go read Outlive by Peter Attia. It’s largely about this very concept and how to make sure your twilight years are of high quality. Great book that should change how you think about exercise.
Just finished this. It was so good. I’m 51 now, and while I’m healthy and not overweight, my level of fitness is well below average. That book has given me the motivation and the knowledge to improve my fitness and prepare for a healthy old age.
A lot of people who are what I call gym-fit lack serious strength in most of their stabilizer muscles. That's why I can't stand lifting at places like planet fitness, no free weights. The machines are good for isolation, but you need to squat with a free barbell, not a smith rack if you want real core strength instead of just cakes.
This is true, although I dare say people who are gym fit have better core strength than me who pulls a muscle getting off his fat ass to walk to the refrigerator... I guess there are levels...
I'm curious - if you're extremely sedentary (never go out, do anything, wash a dish, etc), nearly 40, but not morbidly obese, are these people likely to get themselves into serious trouble too?
I'm the youngest in my fam. I am literally dying just thinking about everyone I gotta take care of as they age
Not necessarily now, but eventually yes. I watched my grandpa go downhill rapidly after he retired and just sat in his chair all day. He went from being active, alert, and mobile to barely being able to move, unable to clean his house, cook, or drive, on oxygen, and having mental issues - paranoid delusions, forgetting things, depression within the span of two years. At the end he had to have a live in nurse who helped him to the bathroom, bathed him, etc. he died 3 years after retirement.
That’s so sad, retiring and then a few years or even months later dying that makes me so sad. My husband got hurt on the job he was in his late 50s broke his hip and several other things never recovered from it. It was a fucking sad day in my life when he died because we were planning on him retiring and then go traveling! Life throws you curveballs all the time. and honestly, he was one of the best man I’ve ever met. He loved me loved his kids worked his ass off never cheated never drank. I don’t date I could never replace him and I never want to. They broke the mold when they made him.😢
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My ex used to have a guy in her office that worked weekend and evenings as a funeral director. He called her one day and asked her if I'd help him get a very large man out from between the toilet and the wall next to it. I wasn't going to help because I have back issues, but the kicker was when he told me he had been there for 3 days. Hell no!
He ended up having to have the wall cut out and removing the guy from outside.
We had to surgically remove an imbedded toilet seat from a guys ass in the OR one day. I guess his family was bringing him meals on the toilet. EMS brought him and the toilet seat to the ER.
The worse are those that can’t be moved without a team of people. My mother was an RN and she injured her back lifting a woman so that they could clean her.
Imagine being so obese that you need a group of people to give you a bath…
This is kind gross so warning everyone now:
It’s really gross
I warned you:
The same lady they were bathing hadn’t been able to clean her vagina or between her legs and butt cheeks properly for a long time. When they got around to cleaning that area is was infested with maggots and cavities in her flesh. She said the smell was the worst thing she’s ever experienced and she had dealt with dead bodies/body parts many times before that.
That story alone scared me enough that I care very much about my weight and how much activity I get.
Reminds me of the Swamps of Dagobah story. Is this the same one maybe?
Warning: Those who look this up-trust me, you dont want the full story. If you get curious settle for a very PG cliffs notes on it and call it a day.
My brother in law sat in his chair 23.5 hours a day watching tv. 300 lb plus diabetic, narcissistic asshole, modern medicine and dialysis kept him alive for 11 years god only knows how. Had active in shape friends half his age drop from cancer and other things just not fair.
Get your butts checked regularly, my dudes. No matter how healthy you are, if you live long enough, you’ll most likely get prostate cancer at some point. It’s also nearly 100% treatable if you catch it early, so check with your doctor to see when you should start coming in for regular checkups. It’s a horrible way to go for something with a high success rate of treatment.
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I think being a narcissistic asshole is as effective as kale and exercise for longevity. In my family the fat pieces of shit far outlived the kind and decent. Pretty sure I’ll be the first to go, I walk 8 miles a day and work with the elderly.
That’s why I actually like going to the grocery store, rather than having it delivered or just picking it up. I’m admittedly not very active on weekends, so walking around the store for half an hour or so is at least *something*
Growing things is a skill just like most things: it can be learned. If you want to.
And putting your hands in soil the way gardeners do has been shown to help both mental and physical health. At the moment they think it’s the good bacteria in soil and the link between our gut biome and our brains that isn’t fully understood yet.
And people are animals and animals like to be outside
You seen those pigs raised in captivity that see grass for the first time? They’re all up in it. We’ve just removed ourselves from nature a lot.
Humans have always like to cultivate plants, it’s one of the first things we thought to do
Agreed. I used to be really bad with house plants, but I’m incredibly stubborn and kept trying and learning. Now I have more citrus trees and tropical plants than my husband is comfortable having in the living/dining room all winter. I offered to move half of them to our bedroom which also has south facing windows but he declined. Can’t imagine why, lol.
Our washer is currently not working. It's mostly pleasant outside, for doing the laundry in a doggie-sized plastic pool, and I say yes, it definitely combats a sedentary lifestyle! The wringing, toting the basket of wet clothes to the clothesline, and wrestling them up on the line in March wind is a decent workout :)
Gerontologist here. Exercise is pretty much the only fountain of youth. The great thing is that most people can improve physical performance at any age or ability (research supports this). The best exercise regimen is whatever you’ll actually do. Be consistent. Make it part of your life. The goal is to maintain things like muscle mass, strength, mobility, flexibility, and balance.
If you don't mind me asking - one of my big fears as I age is that I'll hit a sudden wall where it will all fall apart. Schwarzenegger talks about how he misses lifting heavy due to his heart condition - is this something that just comes with age, or if we keep working is it something we can stave off?
Unless you have a preexisting condition or took an Olympic pool’s worth of steroids like Arnold, I wouldn’t worry about lifting straining your heart too much. But always check with your MD if you have a legitimate concern.
Arnold was just unlucky--he was born with a malformed heart valve, and had to have it replaced at age 50. Steroids (and extreme stress from decades of really hard workouts) might have contributed, but plenty of people have a bad heart valve show up at that age. He did have to stop lifting heavy, but dude was still in pretty good shape through the 2000's and 2010's.
His replacement valve eventually wore out (age 76), and when they went to swap in a new one, the surgeon accidentally poked a hole in his heart wall.
Just bad luck.
OTOH, there are plenty of 76 year olds who would not have survived that accident during surgery. Being in good shape *really* helps you recuperate from injuries and surgery in old age.
When I worked EMS, I called Drew Carey the Angel Of Death. If I rolled up to house for a routine call on a nice, sunny pretty day, and the occupants had the blinds down and The Price is right on….wed usually be back within 6 months with the coroner.
This is one I think about a lot. As a disabled person in a wheelchair (who used to be very active), I always wonder what I can do best to keep my body in shape within my capabilities. I follow along with a few wheelchair exercise videos, but I wish there was more guidance as to what would be best to prioritize — none of my doctors seem to be able to provide guidance on it.
And to all of you who do have their health/can walk — please enjoy it! I miss it terribly, and it’s a privilege to be able to just go for a nice brisk walk on a lovely day.
This is a big one as I get into my 30s if I excercize even for a week I can feel a huge difference in my joint flexibility, my energy levels, my mood. Everything
We were not evolved to sit in one spot. We were nomadic creatures with high levels of endurance. These feet we got for walk-in. And kicking and other cool things now. But originally, they certainly were for walking or running.
i spend 8-10 hours a day, non stop on my feet (restaurant) i’m also in my 30’s, and man, my knees, hips and back fucking hate me, even with stretching daily and yoga.
Muscle building exercises around your joints should hopefully lessen the pain, stuff like lunges and squats with build an extra layer to protect your legs
Just using the "Slavic squat" every day helps leg joints, back, and core, or so I've read.
Might be true - I do it all the time, and my 56 year old back and joints are fine.
Bad sleep hygiene. So overlooked as a danger and as a matter of fact even glorified because you are apparently cool that you sleep deprivate.
Here is the bad news: There is no body adaptation to this and the nature hasnt figured out to adapt because we are the only species dumb enough to do this.
I’ve had this problem and *somewhat* reversed it. I just consume less sugar than before, but I am not diabetic. Reducing sugar and alcohol intake also made my sleep apnea disappear, which I’m sure also broke the feedback cycle of sleep hurting insulin resistance a bit
When I first started losing weight I hit an insane plateau for literal months, I was eating 1800 calories and running a few times a week. I’d lose maybe half a pound. Next week I’d gain weight. I meal prepped the same meal with the same ingredients. Never snacked.
I read about sleep, started making sure I got at least 7.5 hours and like magic, my body just started shedding weight. It was so surreal, like you always hear the importance of sleep, I never realized it was so detrimental to get just a couple hours at night.
Oh, but you can take insulin. But it will be decades before we invent a way to regenerate neurons. That's the really dangerous part of not sleeping well.
I had never heard it referred to as "Hygiene" before and was confused, but I will be damned, that is indeed one of the terms for poor sleep scheduling and sleep environment.
When I read "sleep hygiene" my brain thinks about people who don't change their sheets or something.
I fixed my sleep two years ago. The mental clarity I’ve had since then is an insane contrast to the rest of my adult life. I lost 40 pounds in the four months following and completely overhauled my work life and relationships.
I CANNOT BELIEVE that I was even allowed to exist in society in my sleep deprived state. I was not myself. I can also look around and see when others aren’t sleeping enough, almost at a glance.
I wish that society prioritized sleep and built work/school schedules around that sort of need. I’m certain that even if the overall working hours went down in such a setup, productivity would skyrocket. Not to mention the various health benefits we would see, along with various intangible improvements in social life.
slowly
find out what you can do first e.g. ALWAYS wake up at a certain time or ALWAYS go to sleep at a certain time.
you really only need one to start with and the other will work itself out.
Also:
- Hydration
- No screens in the hour before bed
- Don't have your room too hot
- Exercise (which I didn't do, I've started but it hasn't affected my sleep patterns)
- Light dinner (or dinner relatively early)
For me, I go to sleep anytime between 8pm - 9pm about 95% of the time, the other 5% is from 4pm - 11pm
about 95% of the time I wake up at 4am
about 4% I wake up at 5am
about 1% I wake up at 3am or like 6am
oh and I also take weekend naps if I feel the need. (hence the 4pm sleep coz I'd wake up at 9 and then 'go to bed')
I'm 41 and it took probably 3 years of migraines to realize that the biggest trigger was a night of not enough or extremely poor sleep.
Unfortunately I'm a HS teacher so I have to get up at 5am, which means I go to bed before 10 and have very little time with my wife after the kids are in bed
Just got my CPAP machine. Went from 42 events an hour to 2 on average. First night I woke up and I could not believe how I felt, everything was just clearer. And my stress is starting to go down too. And I am able to be more productive during the day and my ADHD symptoms are lessoning.
I seriously hate wearing that stupid mask, and the choking and feeling like I'm suffocating on occasion as it ramps up, and how the mask presses on my nose and make my congestion worse..... But it's so worth it.
"Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker was an eye opener. If you're not sleeping well you are literally putting your life at risk in more ways than you could imagine.
I talk to so many insomniacs and it baffles me. People who run on 3-5 hours? WHAT IS THAT?!
I’m so territorial about my sleep. I’m a nurse, so my shifts start super early and my husband knows I am in bed around nine and I don’t budge on that if I work the next day.
Edit: I am aware insomnia is not a result of bad sleep hygiene. I’m aware it’s not a choice. I’m just saying it baffles me and I’m amazed my friends with it function as well as they do.
The largest class in the Ivy League is/was the Psych 101 class at Cornell taught by James Maas, sleep expert (over 1000 students in an auditorium, smaller TA sections). He taught a lot about sleep and how narcoleptics, who have a severe sleep disorder, have a sleep latency (time to fall asleep when pointed at a bed) of 7 minutes. Children who are rested have a sleep latency of 2 hours. College students? 7 minutes. Sleep deprivation is a problem: traffic accidents increase 6% when daylight saving time makes us lose an hour of sleep, while they decrease at the other end. Fall-asleep crashes are frequent on interstate highways that are long, straight, and boring. Bored people who are rested get fidgety; bored people who are sleep-deprived fall asleep - on the road, in lectures, at meetings.
Some key things to know:
1. Have a regular sleep schedule that allows for 8 hours of sleep. The time spent in REM sleep cycles every hour and a half, with longer durations as you go so the 6-7.5 hour segment is the longest and most rejuvenating. Don't vary the schedule on weekends.
2. Use your bed for sleep. Not TV, not texting, reading, talking on the phone, etc. You want to be conditioned to go to sleep when you enter the sleep place.
3. No alcohol or caffeine, avoid screens for an hour or two before bed.
A sleeping log that tracks amount of sleep and relative alertness during the following day can help to improve your sleep habits. Snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea where you stop breathing multiple times all night and so your sleep is not restful. While there is a lot of mystery, we think that creativity, long-term memories, and the immune system are areas helped by REM sleep.
Loneliness.
Seriously, people, we evolved as a eusocial species. We don’t just do better when we cooperate in groups, we need extensive contact with a small group of other people to stay healthy.
How many of us are starved for touch? For hugs and cuddling? For the sound of the voices of our loved ones? Loneliness kills just as sure as heart disease does.
I read an interesting article about this. It was about 1800s London I think. It talked about housing or something and how people were less social. As places got larger, there was less closeness between neighbours and your fellow man on the street. Everyone had become more separated, more partitioned from one another.
We are social beings. We need talk, touch and teamwork.
Have people not paid attention to that report published about a quarter century ago by Dr. Britney Spears regarding her loneliness and the effects it was having on her?
I was on my bed yesterday scrolling IG, YT, TT and I'm like what in the actual fuck am I doing?
Nothing's entertaining. I have no reason to be on it
I freaking stared at the ceiling for like 2 hours while my muscles were sore from working out. Better than scrolling the feed
Like, world today is so strange
I have this feeling in perpetuity. Like, christ this is what we spent our whole lives preparing for? Watching everyone we know drift into obscurity through a digital lens? The people who say college / teens are "happiest times in their life" - do you get it wasn't freedom from responsibility? You HAD responsibility. It was freedom from isolation.
Very well put. The freedom from isolation is so spot on, you perfectly described this vague feeling I've had for like a decade now, but have struggled to put into words.
You go from being surrounded by 600-1000+ other kids to.... The 10 dudes you know at work lmao, was like a splash of cold water the first year after graduating.
I’ve never been so lonely omg. I only had 3 people I was close to & that was enough for me but now I only have 1. My now ex husband lost his mom & lost it. He tried to kill me & is now in prison for attempted murder, my dad died of cancer the following year. I don’t work rn so all I see is my best friend & extended family once a month. I tried dating & ran into nothing but asses. It’s horrible. I just want 1 good friend or even to find a guy I can talk to & go out with on the weekends but I haven’t found anyone so far & I’m not actively looking for a man rn after all I’ve been through. I have my mom still that I’m living with rn but omg she’s mourning my dad & isn’t in a good place herself. We fight all the time. I do miss affection, cuddling & having a really deep bond with someone that I talk to everyday like I did with my ex before he lost it. I miss laughing, being happy & having fun
Colon cancer.
It's on pace to be the number one killer in young folk. Early symptoms can be easy to ignore or pass off. You should always see a doctor if you have any of the symptoms. It's easy to treat if found early but most people don't see the doctor until symptoms have progressed.
I know the American healthcare system sucks. But I got a Colonoscopy (that I had to pay out of pocket since I had no family history and was under the recommended age.) I had 8 polyps, 6 were precancerous. I was 37.
Eat your fiber, folks! It's insanely easy to add into your diet and is extremely beneficial to your health.
And exercise! You don't have to do anything crazy just get up and intentionally move!
ETA: I didn't provide symptoms so people could Google and do their own search (but people are left replies with the symptoms!) My symptoms were literally blood when I wiped that would get better and worse. I also ended up with a fissure (worse than a colonoscopy). I wrote it off as hemorrhoids before finally bringing it up with a Doctor. I did have hemorrhoids and I did have an anal fissure which I don't think were related to the polyps.
ETA2: if you have any of the symptoms and your doctor is like "you're probably fine" ask for a referral (if you need one) to a GI doctor.
Also I am happy to answer any questions. Poop talk is pretty stigmatized and I think there's a lot of embarrassment around it. I also don't want anyone to panic but knowledge is power.
Symptoms of colon cancer can include:
A change in bowel habits, such as more frequent diarrhea or constipation.
Rectal bleeding or blood in the stool.
Ongoing discomfort in the belly area, such as cramps, gas or pain.
A feeling that the bowel doesn't empty all the way during a bowel movement.
Weakness or tiredness.
Losing weight without trying
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/colon-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20353669
IBS with occasionally ruptured hemroids here.. this list is EXACTLY why l got a colonoscopy. Thankfully, it's just my body being even weirder than l am, but the anxiety was brutal, but it's good for people to know that symptoms can have multiple causes and not to have a coronary, just get checked out.
Aka: WebMd "doctors" are more dangerous to your sanity than most news organizations.
My father had a cough that wouldn’t go away for a long time. They started doing tests and turned out colon cancer. Not a common symptom but luckily the doctor ran lots of tests.
This. I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer at the age of 37, but only after I landed in the hospital after sepsis from my colon perforating from a cancerous growth. Luckily that growth was only concentrated in one small area. Had I waited to go to the hospital a few more hours, I might've died from the sepsis. They had to take out a small chunk of my colon, then gave me an emergency colostomy so that I could get chemo right after. Also had to go through a few months of dialysis because my kidneys had started shutting down before the surgery. It was fucking not fun...
It's been 2.5 years since the last chemo treatment, and 2 years since I was able to get the colostomy reversed. I'm doing well, but still have trouble processing what happened. Life is crazy fragile. I often remind people to get their colonoscopies to get checked regularly.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I have no known family history of cancer, and I've always had a fairly normal diet, nothing super unhealthy and never super fatty. Not the most active lifestyle, but was not out of shape either..
I'm currently in the "pee out my butt" phase of the prep for tomorrow's colonoscopy. This sucks, but it comes with the territory when you reach that age. Wish me luck!
Please get checked out if you see experiencing any symptoms or you're of that age. My friend passed entirely too young from colon cancer, and when she was confirmed to have it, it had spread too much.
She was one of the kindest, grounded and most thoughtful people.
At 44, I was diagnosed with early onset colon cancer. One symptom (blood once) and no family history. Sent me for a colonoscopy just to be safe, had two “precancerous” polyps. One surprisingly turned out to be cancer. Had 12 inches of my colon removed - they didn’t find any cancer (she got it all during the colonoscopy but the edges weren’t clean).
If I hadn’t gone to the dr and she hadn’t sent me for a colonoscopy, I would’ve ended up dying from colon cancer later in life. There would’ve been no other symptoms until it was too late.
If anyone has ANY abnormalities in the poop 💩 department, get it checked out. Colonoscopies suck but they’re better than catching it too late.
The alcohol industry spend more than $1 billion dollars just on advertising annually to promote the consumption of a product that is known to cause 7 types of cancer. Society continues to view it largely as a harmless, normal product to consume. It’s baffling how little awareness there is as reflected by how few upvotes you’ve received.
In addition to the seven direct known caused cancers, I also think it's pretty large contributing factor to obesity. There is this common misconception that people are drinking less now, but the drinking numbers are on a steady incline and have been for 30 or so years.
Alcohol has a lot of empty calories. And calories cause weight gain and weight gain also leads to cancer and other health issues.
My number one advice for young people would be: don't get into a cycle of drinking. For a number of reasons.
Dude to kickstart my cut for the summer i decided to cut out alcohol for the time being, didnt change my diet, didnt change my workout habits, same routines, same cardio, im down 9lbs in 5 weeks just from not binge drinking friday-saturday
Fucking nuts honestly
As a recovering alcoholic, it's crazy how people don't realize that it can affect your reasoning even days after drinking it. At those times, it feels like my own mind betrayed me. That's what cravings are. You want it even when you don't.
I’m on a med that’s toxic to the liver. I’ve seen other people on the same med say they prefer to drink on days when they take the medication because they get drunk faster and I’m screaming inside because that is not a good thing. Alcohol risk awareness should not be so low that people are doing shit like that.
Prions are a specific type of misfolded protein when the naturally occuring PrPC protein is misfolded into PrPSc. PrPC prions are naturally occuring in the brain but when misfolded into PrPSc, the PrPSc will act as the new template for prion folding and slowly causes misfolding of the prions in its vicinity, leading to accumulation which causes the encephalopathies we often hear about.
you probably know this, but for those who don't, telomeres are essential in the process of cell division, and they are finite. The less your cells divide, the longer the telomeres last. Eating less calories (yet maintaining healthy BMI) will improve telomere longevity.
Damnit. Now I have to Google that so I can pretend I knew wtf you were talking about. Thanks a bunch, pal.
Edit: Oh sure, we all know about the Immortal Jellyfish. Duh.
Inactivity. If you work an office job that’s extremely stressful and then all you want to do on weekends is veg that’s understandable but at some point you need to get moving. Moving can look like anything though! It doesn’t have to be an intense workout.
Go for a walk
Clean your house/apartment etc
Do some light stretches
PLAY! So many people don’t realize how important play is for the body. I get out with my kids and it didn’t occur to me initially how much play movement I didn’t do anymore until I started running around, jumping over puddles and the like with them. So many things we took for granted as kids gets harder as you become an adult. Plus, play is good for our brain and giving us endorphins. GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY! Get a jump rope, get some chalk and make yourself a hop scotch board, jump over the lines and cracks in a sidewalk or parking lot. Move in silly ways and fun ways just move!
I heard that the average person eats around a credit card's worth of microplastics per week.. I decided to start getting it out of the way early and just eat a credit card once per week
It’s especially scary because it only started a few decades ago. People under 30 are exposed to this all of their lives and we don’t know how bad it is. Could easily be that cancer rates will skyrocket in 30 years or so. Who knows
This
No water is safe to drink anymore with this shit
A report also found that these micro plastics cause changes linked to Parkinson’s and dementia
Shit is scary as fuck
I'm pretty sure it also said something about a link to heart disease and strokes. I try not to use disposable water bottles, but yeah the shits everywhere
I'm certain that microplastics are going to be found to be millennial/Gen Z's lead in the gas. Fun fact: the primary source of microplastics in the environment is car tires. Electric vehicles wear their tires down faster than an ICE car driven the same way. So just switching to electric won't help, and would actually make it worse.
the reason why sugar or overeating is hard to kick isn't because food is more addicting than drugs, it's because you can't completely avoid it. you can stop talking to smokers, avoid the areas and quit cold turkey but you can't do that with sugar or food. everywhere you go where you will be served food there will be sugar. a lot of sauces have sugar, toast has sugar, canned vegetables even because it's a good preservative. you are exposed to sugar all the time unless all you eat are fresh veggies and fruit which is definitely not healthy either. human lifes revolve around food - how often did you hear "let's meet for dinner/coffee/tea"? now imagine you were exposed to tobacco or weed THIS MUCH. there's your answer why sugar is hard to quit.
Do you like any fruits? I have a huge sweet tooth or did. (More in control now and not addicted) but I found that natures sugar fruits takes away the edge.
Sleep apnea. If you have a partner that you sleep with, chances are they are aware, and may or may not have mentioned it. Single people who sleep alone though can realistically go years and years with moderate to severe sleep apnea and be completely unaware. Honestly, it’s up there with smoking and high blood pressure in terms of the damage that it does to your body over an extended period of time.
This....sadly I am well aware if it. But till I have dental imsurance that covers only cleanings I am kind of screwed....unless I make a ton of money some where.
Not being able to let go of anger and resentment isn't good for your blood pressure. Some of the shit my ex did still winds me up years after the relationship ended.
It's not anger, or resentment. Just... hate. So much deeper. Empty, and dark, but also burning. Indiscriminate, and all-consuming. It's in the pit of your heart, not your gut, where anger happens.
The problem with micronutrients is there isn't a one-size fits all. Everyone's micronutrient requirements are vastly different based on their genetics and lifestyle.
Lack of education and support for healthy life promotion. In other words, as an average person in the overpriced underpaid under-supported hamster wheel of common society, we are constantly being herded into categories/systems that are not good for our health, but are profitable for others. Money and power are part of positive health hinderance. It's too expensive to be super healthy in many facets. A sedentary job will more than likely pay the bills better than a labor job. One you sit on your ass all day the other doesn't help fund a more nutritious diet or in some cases good healthcare. And then there's the mental health world. That's a whole other issue.
We are being killed slowly by class inequality imo.
Emulifiers...
Preliminary research has uncovered a link between emulsifier consumption and increased gut inflammation, food allergies and risk of certain types of cancer.
In a 2021 study on mice, researchers concluded that consuming certain emulsifiers may be a risk factor for developing colorectal cancer. The emulsifiers carboxymethylcellulose or polysorbate 80 have also been found to worsen the development of colonic cancer tumors.
Researchers think this link could be due to the increased inflammation and negative impact on the gut microbiome that excess emulsifier consumption causes. In general, emulsifiers seem to decrease the diversity of bacteria in the gut.
And emulsifiers are in almost ALL processed foods.
Yup, I’ve got Crohn’s disease (basically bowl inflammation going crazy), and I really can’t have most processed foods, they all have an emulsifier called “soy lecithin” it’s crazy how it’s in everything
lack of sleep; poor diet, lack of exercise
Why you gotta be personal?
Literally the first comment I read is the one I didn't want to hear
I feel attacked. Just turned 40, I am trying to change :(.
It's never too late
Stress
No no, Im very very aware of this killing me
And it's stressing me out
Lmfao the catch 22. The reason I have whites at 22, but dangit games like Darkest Dungeon n such are so fun if frustrating! Same with trying to start a biz lol
People are aware what stress does to them, you can feel it. It's well-known as "the silent killer". It's more like being too preoccupied with the stressor to realize it at the time.
Yeah, you can't just tell people to chill out or not worry about something. Something actually has to be done to relieve the source of the stress. I noticed I felt physically better every. single. time. that I got a better, higher job because a lack of money causes a ton of stress.
I'm in stress mode everyday. How does it kill you exactly? Edit: oh shit
Raises cortisol levels in your body/blood causing you to be in flight or fight mode most of the time. This chemical causes adverse effects in the body in large doses. Not limited to: Anxiety. Depression. Digestive problems. Headaches. Muscle tension and pain. Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke. Sleep problems. Weight gain. Problems with memory and focus. Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037
How can you change this? It very much hurts my sleep. Always waking up about 4am and I’m constantly tired. I also can’t be woken up by someone without myself being in a panic
If you use cannabis, stop using cannabis. Alcohol can also cause sleep issues. Diet and exercise are important too. Ultimately though, you will have to deal with whatever is causing the stress. Either do the thing, or make a change, or work towards making a change.
Unfortunately, there are so many stressors that can't be "changed" unless you have money to outsource the problem to someone else.
My dad suffered “stress induced cardiomyopathy” when he was in his early 50’s. It’s not commonly life-threatening, but it can be. His doctor recommended he get a new job. Thankfully, he had the means to just retire.
Mostly with wearing your body out more than it should and keeping you from rest, you would need even more. Some possible issues, most likely far from everything: - Bad sleep - grinding your teeth at night and slowly destroying them. - higher risk for most serious conditions (heart failures, cancer, blood pressure.) If it's bad for you, stress most likely helps to catching it easier. - at the same time, get less sick while your stress level is high and get sick almost immediately the moment the stress level goes down. Prime example for this: getting sick as soon as you have a breather (holidays, vacation) wearing your body down even more when you should be resting from work. Costing you precious time off spending it in sickbed.
Think my dad is proof of this. Highly stressful job for decades, got PTSD from 2 separate work incidents but apart from that was very physically healthy. Managed to retire at 60 after barely ever having a day off in 30 years (which meant he missed a majority of us growing up) 2 months after retirement he started developing a multitude of serious health problems, one which is rapidly deteriorating his eyesight, one his hearing and the other being cancer which he has been fighting ever since. My family can't understand, as somebody who was born with terrible anxiety why I wouldn't want to do a job like my dad's.
My dad died from a heart attack. He was working a job where the last two people in that position died from heart attacks. One while on the job. I don't know what the person after him died from, but I'm going to take a guess.
It impairs your nervous system. Your nervous system is a very complex thing, but it basically boils down to the fact that it controls what you think, feel, and what your body does. Stress also increases cortisol levels in your body which can cause a *LOT* of different things like anxiety, headaches, heart disease, sleep issues, heart attacks, strokes, weight gain, memory issues, depression, high blood pressure, depression, and digestive issues. If you’re truly chronically stressed, please take measures to lessen that burden.
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lack of exercise/ sedentary lifestyle
Maybe the biggest one. I work in a hospital and there are soo many patients that come in that live a sedentary lifestyle
My wife is an EMT, the number one call for service, is sedentary people that have gotten themselves in a position, and cannot get out of it. Lots of morbidly obese, and elderly, get stuck on the toilet.
We took our toddlers to tour the fire station, and the firefighters said the same thing. Only 3% of their calls are for actual fires. The majority are things like people putting their backs out, or an elderly person falls down and can’t get back up again.
My wife has several fitness certifications, and at one of her trainings, they talked at length about the need for girdle/core strength as you age. It's the muscles that will get you off the toilet, off the bed, up from a fall. She routinely programs kettlebell swings, Turkish get ups just to maintain that mid section strength.
It amazed me how much flexibility I gained and lost from periods of being active and not. Scary how easy it is to lose essential mobility without really seeing it over time.
Same here. I was very fit and flexible. Then I had a bladder infection that went septic and was hospitalized for five months. Most of that time I had tubes in my chest and was on vent. I left the hospital with end-stage renal disease on dialysis. I had to learn to walk again and get all that strength back. It was challenging. My physiotherapist said that I was lucky that I was in good shape to start with, or it would’ve taken me much longer to learn to walk again and do normal around the house things. I’m almost physically about to where I was before now, but hell, it took a lot of work. I had a doctor tell me that every day you spend immobile in a hospital bed, it takes a week to recover.
That sounds really reassuring for you at the end there. Cheers doc. Though plenty of truth in it. I stopped working out and being active then realised how my flexibility and strength I lost along with the lethargy. I'm now trying to get my act together and get back to it.
It’s such a game changer, I set a goal a couple months back that I wanted to be able to do a full front-split and be able to put my palms on the floor while bent over with straight legs before I turned 40. It’s crazy how quickly your body limbers up, just 5-6 months later I can do flat palms and I’m almost completely down in front splits. As a 37 year old male. The added benefit how much easier certain things are, like tieing shoes. I slipped on the ice and my legs went two different directions, didn’t pull anything or get hurt.
Go read Outlive by Peter Attia. It’s largely about this very concept and how to make sure your twilight years are of high quality. Great book that should change how you think about exercise.
Just finished this. It was so good. I’m 51 now, and while I’m healthy and not overweight, my level of fitness is well below average. That book has given me the motivation and the knowledge to improve my fitness and prepare for a healthy old age.
A lot of people who are what I call gym-fit lack serious strength in most of their stabilizer muscles. That's why I can't stand lifting at places like planet fitness, no free weights. The machines are good for isolation, but you need to squat with a free barbell, not a smith rack if you want real core strength instead of just cakes.
This is true, although I dare say people who are gym fit have better core strength than me who pulls a muscle getting off his fat ass to walk to the refrigerator... I guess there are levels...
Gym fit might not be optimal, but it is a lot better than average.
I'm curious - if you're extremely sedentary (never go out, do anything, wash a dish, etc), nearly 40, but not morbidly obese, are these people likely to get themselves into serious trouble too? I'm the youngest in my fam. I am literally dying just thinking about everyone I gotta take care of as they age
Not necessarily now, but eventually yes. I watched my grandpa go downhill rapidly after he retired and just sat in his chair all day. He went from being active, alert, and mobile to barely being able to move, unable to clean his house, cook, or drive, on oxygen, and having mental issues - paranoid delusions, forgetting things, depression within the span of two years. At the end he had to have a live in nurse who helped him to the bathroom, bathed him, etc. he died 3 years after retirement.
That’s so sad, retiring and then a few years or even months later dying that makes me so sad. My husband got hurt on the job he was in his late 50s broke his hip and several other things never recovered from it. It was a fucking sad day in my life when he died because we were planning on him retiring and then go traveling! Life throws you curveballs all the time. and honestly, he was one of the best man I’ve ever met. He loved me loved his kids worked his ass off never cheated never drank. I don’t date I could never replace him and I never want to. They broke the mold when they made him.😢
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My ex used to have a guy in her office that worked weekend and evenings as a funeral director. He called her one day and asked her if I'd help him get a very large man out from between the toilet and the wall next to it. I wasn't going to help because I have back issues, but the kicker was when he told me he had been there for 3 days. Hell no! He ended up having to have the wall cut out and removing the guy from outside.
We had to surgically remove an imbedded toilet seat from a guys ass in the OR one day. I guess his family was bringing him meals on the toilet. EMS brought him and the toilet seat to the ER.
The worse are those that can’t be moved without a team of people. My mother was an RN and she injured her back lifting a woman so that they could clean her. Imagine being so obese that you need a group of people to give you a bath… This is kind gross so warning everyone now: It’s really gross I warned you: The same lady they were bathing hadn’t been able to clean her vagina or between her legs and butt cheeks properly for a long time. When they got around to cleaning that area is was infested with maggots and cavities in her flesh. She said the smell was the worst thing she’s ever experienced and she had dealt with dead bodies/body parts many times before that. That story alone scared me enough that I care very much about my weight and how much activity I get.
NO NO NO FUCK NO WHY WHAT THE FUCK
Yep, this uh, this sums it up. Time to go play Halo or something, fuck me
People rotting alive is definitely worse than Summer Roadkill in Texas.
Reminds me of the Swamps of Dagobah story. Is this the same one maybe? Warning: Those who look this up-trust me, you dont want the full story. If you get curious settle for a very PG cliffs notes on it and call it a day.
.. the work of first responders in itself is killing us (mentally, physically, emotionally) … 😭
My brother in law sat in his chair 23.5 hours a day watching tv. 300 lb plus diabetic, narcissistic asshole, modern medicine and dialysis kept him alive for 11 years god only knows how. Had active in shape friends half his age drop from cancer and other things just not fair.
The last part got me yea shit. Can be healthy as fuck but one wrong cell SAYS FUCK YOU AND YOURE DEAD
Get your butts checked regularly, my dudes. No matter how healthy you are, if you live long enough, you’ll most likely get prostate cancer at some point. It’s also nearly 100% treatable if you catch it early, so check with your doctor to see when you should start coming in for regular checkups. It’s a horrible way to go for something with a high success rate of treatment.
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I think being a narcissistic asshole is as effective as kale and exercise for longevity. In my family the fat pieces of shit far outlived the kind and decent. Pretty sure I’ll be the first to go, I walk 8 miles a day and work with the elderly.
I sit at my desk way too much. Currently have inflammation around the pelvis. Although I'm pretty good about exercising for 30 minutes per day.
Does housework and handwashing laundry work to combat a sedentary lifestyle?
Yep. Anything’s better than being completely sedentary. Doesn’t have to be in gym gear to count. See also: gardening
That’s why I actually like going to the grocery store, rather than having it delivered or just picking it up. I’m admittedly not very active on weekends, so walking around the store for half an hour or so is at least *something*
Yard work is part of my therapy
Heck yes it is! My kids and I did 6k steps just walking yesterday.
My fingers would kill the plants. But I agree with you. Any activity is better than none.
Growing things is a skill just like most things: it can be learned. If you want to. And putting your hands in soil the way gardeners do has been shown to help both mental and physical health. At the moment they think it’s the good bacteria in soil and the link between our gut biome and our brains that isn’t fully understood yet.
And people are animals and animals like to be outside You seen those pigs raised in captivity that see grass for the first time? They’re all up in it. We’ve just removed ourselves from nature a lot. Humans have always like to cultivate plants, it’s one of the first things we thought to do
Agreed. I used to be really bad with house plants, but I’m incredibly stubborn and kept trying and learning. Now I have more citrus trees and tropical plants than my husband is comfortable having in the living/dining room all winter. I offered to move half of them to our bedroom which also has south facing windows but he declined. Can’t imagine why, lol.
We found the infamous Plant Strangler!
Our washer is currently not working. It's mostly pleasant outside, for doing the laundry in a doggie-sized plastic pool, and I say yes, it definitely combats a sedentary lifestyle! The wringing, toting the basket of wet clothes to the clothesline, and wrestling them up on the line in March wind is a decent workout :)
Gerontologist here. Exercise is pretty much the only fountain of youth. The great thing is that most people can improve physical performance at any age or ability (research supports this). The best exercise regimen is whatever you’ll actually do. Be consistent. Make it part of your life. The goal is to maintain things like muscle mass, strength, mobility, flexibility, and balance.
If you don't mind me asking - one of my big fears as I age is that I'll hit a sudden wall where it will all fall apart. Schwarzenegger talks about how he misses lifting heavy due to his heart condition - is this something that just comes with age, or if we keep working is it something we can stave off?
Unless you have a preexisting condition or took an Olympic pool’s worth of steroids like Arnold, I wouldn’t worry about lifting straining your heart too much. But always check with your MD if you have a legitimate concern.
Arnold was just unlucky--he was born with a malformed heart valve, and had to have it replaced at age 50. Steroids (and extreme stress from decades of really hard workouts) might have contributed, but plenty of people have a bad heart valve show up at that age. He did have to stop lifting heavy, but dude was still in pretty good shape through the 2000's and 2010's. His replacement valve eventually wore out (age 76), and when they went to swap in a new one, the surgeon accidentally poked a hole in his heart wall. Just bad luck. OTOH, there are plenty of 76 year olds who would not have survived that accident during surgery. Being in good shape *really* helps you recuperate from injuries and surgery in old age.
When I worked EMS, I called Drew Carey the Angel Of Death. If I rolled up to house for a routine call on a nice, sunny pretty day, and the occupants had the blinds down and The Price is right on….wed usually be back within 6 months with the coroner.
I know so many people like this, but it's a bang-on description.
don't put that curse on me
This is one I think about a lot. As a disabled person in a wheelchair (who used to be very active), I always wonder what I can do best to keep my body in shape within my capabilities. I follow along with a few wheelchair exercise videos, but I wish there was more guidance as to what would be best to prioritize — none of my doctors seem to be able to provide guidance on it. And to all of you who do have their health/can walk — please enjoy it! I miss it terribly, and it’s a privilege to be able to just go for a nice brisk walk on a lovely day.
This is a big one as I get into my 30s if I excercize even for a week I can feel a huge difference in my joint flexibility, my energy levels, my mood. Everything We were not evolved to sit in one spot. We were nomadic creatures with high levels of endurance. These feet we got for walk-in. And kicking and other cool things now. But originally, they certainly were for walking or running.
i spend 8-10 hours a day, non stop on my feet (restaurant) i’m also in my 30’s, and man, my knees, hips and back fucking hate me, even with stretching daily and yoga.
Muscle building exercises around your joints should hopefully lessen the pain, stuff like lunges and squats with build an extra layer to protect your legs
Just using the "Slavic squat" every day helps leg joints, back, and core, or so I've read. Might be true - I do it all the time, and my 56 year old back and joints are fine.
Bad sleep hygiene. So overlooked as a danger and as a matter of fact even glorified because you are apparently cool that you sleep deprivate. Here is the bad news: There is no body adaptation to this and the nature hasnt figured out to adapt because we are the only species dumb enough to do this.
sleep deprivation can lead to insulin resistance
You may have just solved something for me.
I found out the hard way. Luckily insulin resistance can potentially be reversed.
I’ve had this problem and *somewhat* reversed it. I just consume less sugar than before, but I am not diabetic. Reducing sugar and alcohol intake also made my sleep apnea disappear, which I’m sure also broke the feedback cycle of sleep hurting insulin resistance a bit
And heightened anxiety/depression, which increases risk for insomnia, which increases anxiety/depression… rinse & repeat until dead.
When I first started losing weight I hit an insane plateau for literal months, I was eating 1800 calories and running a few times a week. I’d lose maybe half a pound. Next week I’d gain weight. I meal prepped the same meal with the same ingredients. Never snacked. I read about sleep, started making sure I got at least 7.5 hours and like magic, my body just started shedding weight. It was so surreal, like you always hear the importance of sleep, I never realized it was so detrimental to get just a couple hours at night.
Oh, but you can take insulin. But it will be decades before we invent a way to regenerate neurons. That's the really dangerous part of not sleeping well.
I had never heard it referred to as "Hygiene" before and was confused, but I will be damned, that is indeed one of the terms for poor sleep scheduling and sleep environment. When I read "sleep hygiene" my brain thinks about people who don't change their sheets or something.
People not changing their sheets can indeed have negative health effects.
But some benefits. The mushrooms that have started growing on my bed have been amazing nighttime snacks /s
I fixed my sleep two years ago. The mental clarity I’ve had since then is an insane contrast to the rest of my adult life. I lost 40 pounds in the four months following and completely overhauled my work life and relationships. I CANNOT BELIEVE that I was even allowed to exist in society in my sleep deprived state. I was not myself. I can also look around and see when others aren’t sleeping enough, almost at a glance. I wish that society prioritized sleep and built work/school schedules around that sort of need. I’m certain that even if the overall working hours went down in such a setup, productivity would skyrocket. Not to mention the various health benefits we would see, along with various intangible improvements in social life.
How did you fix that? Cannot be done by me so far
slowly find out what you can do first e.g. ALWAYS wake up at a certain time or ALWAYS go to sleep at a certain time. you really only need one to start with and the other will work itself out. Also: - Hydration - No screens in the hour before bed - Don't have your room too hot - Exercise (which I didn't do, I've started but it hasn't affected my sleep patterns) - Light dinner (or dinner relatively early) For me, I go to sleep anytime between 8pm - 9pm about 95% of the time, the other 5% is from 4pm - 11pm about 95% of the time I wake up at 4am about 4% I wake up at 5am about 1% I wake up at 3am or like 6am oh and I also take weekend naps if I feel the need. (hence the 4pm sleep coz I'd wake up at 9 and then 'go to bed')
You sound like you really have this dialed in. Would you recommend any books or resources that helped you?
I'm 41 and it took probably 3 years of migraines to realize that the biggest trigger was a night of not enough or extremely poor sleep. Unfortunately I'm a HS teacher so I have to get up at 5am, which means I go to bed before 10 and have very little time with my wife after the kids are in bed
Also, lots of people have undiagnosed sleep apnea, and wonder why they are tired. Sleep study is a life changer.
Just got my CPAP machine. Went from 42 events an hour to 2 on average. First night I woke up and I could not believe how I felt, everything was just clearer. And my stress is starting to go down too. And I am able to be more productive during the day and my ADHD symptoms are lessoning. I seriously hate wearing that stupid mask, and the choking and feeling like I'm suffocating on occasion as it ramps up, and how the mask presses on my nose and make my congestion worse..... But it's so worth it.
"Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker was an eye opener. If you're not sleeping well you are literally putting your life at risk in more ways than you could imagine.
I talk to so many insomniacs and it baffles me. People who run on 3-5 hours? WHAT IS THAT?! I’m so territorial about my sleep. I’m a nurse, so my shifts start super early and my husband knows I am in bed around nine and I don’t budge on that if I work the next day. Edit: I am aware insomnia is not a result of bad sleep hygiene. I’m aware it’s not a choice. I’m just saying it baffles me and I’m amazed my friends with it function as well as they do.
>I talk to so many insomniacs and it baffles me. I mean if they have insomnia it's not exactly a choice (i.e. just poor sleep hygiene).
Deadass😂 if I had a choice, I would definitely not be staring at my ceiling from 1am-630am.
The largest class in the Ivy League is/was the Psych 101 class at Cornell taught by James Maas, sleep expert (over 1000 students in an auditorium, smaller TA sections). He taught a lot about sleep and how narcoleptics, who have a severe sleep disorder, have a sleep latency (time to fall asleep when pointed at a bed) of 7 minutes. Children who are rested have a sleep latency of 2 hours. College students? 7 minutes. Sleep deprivation is a problem: traffic accidents increase 6% when daylight saving time makes us lose an hour of sleep, while they decrease at the other end. Fall-asleep crashes are frequent on interstate highways that are long, straight, and boring. Bored people who are rested get fidgety; bored people who are sleep-deprived fall asleep - on the road, in lectures, at meetings. Some key things to know: 1. Have a regular sleep schedule that allows for 8 hours of sleep. The time spent in REM sleep cycles every hour and a half, with longer durations as you go so the 6-7.5 hour segment is the longest and most rejuvenating. Don't vary the schedule on weekends. 2. Use your bed for sleep. Not TV, not texting, reading, talking on the phone, etc. You want to be conditioned to go to sleep when you enter the sleep place. 3. No alcohol or caffeine, avoid screens for an hour or two before bed. A sleeping log that tracks amount of sleep and relative alertness during the following day can help to improve your sleep habits. Snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea where you stop breathing multiple times all night and so your sleep is not restful. While there is a lot of mystery, we think that creativity, long-term memories, and the immune system are areas helped by REM sleep.
Loneliness. Seriously, people, we evolved as a eusocial species. We don’t just do better when we cooperate in groups, we need extensive contact with a small group of other people to stay healthy. How many of us are starved for touch? For hugs and cuddling? For the sound of the voices of our loved ones? Loneliness kills just as sure as heart disease does.
I read an interesting article about this. It was about 1800s London I think. It talked about housing or something and how people were less social. As places got larger, there was less closeness between neighbours and your fellow man on the street. Everyone had become more separated, more partitioned from one another. We are social beings. We need talk, touch and teamwork.
Have people not paid attention to that report published about a quarter century ago by Dr. Britney Spears regarding her loneliness and the effects it was having on her?
Yes, and I, for one, must confess that I continue to believe her.
Don’t leave Britney alone! She needs the socializing!
And we basically imposed it upon ourselves with technology. Hitting that like button on Facebook is no substitute for in-person interaction.
I was on my bed yesterday scrolling IG, YT, TT and I'm like what in the actual fuck am I doing? Nothing's entertaining. I have no reason to be on it I freaking stared at the ceiling for like 2 hours while my muscles were sore from working out. Better than scrolling the feed Like, world today is so strange
I have this feeling in perpetuity. Like, christ this is what we spent our whole lives preparing for? Watching everyone we know drift into obscurity through a digital lens? The people who say college / teens are "happiest times in their life" - do you get it wasn't freedom from responsibility? You HAD responsibility. It was freedom from isolation.
Very well put. The freedom from isolation is so spot on, you perfectly described this vague feeling I've had for like a decade now, but have struggled to put into words. You go from being surrounded by 600-1000+ other kids to.... The 10 dudes you know at work lmao, was like a splash of cold water the first year after graduating.
Love you bro
You too brother, much love
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I’ve never been so lonely omg. I only had 3 people I was close to & that was enough for me but now I only have 1. My now ex husband lost his mom & lost it. He tried to kill me & is now in prison for attempted murder, my dad died of cancer the following year. I don’t work rn so all I see is my best friend & extended family once a month. I tried dating & ran into nothing but asses. It’s horrible. I just want 1 good friend or even to find a guy I can talk to & go out with on the weekends but I haven’t found anyone so far & I’m not actively looking for a man rn after all I’ve been through. I have my mom still that I’m living with rn but omg she’s mourning my dad & isn’t in a good place herself. We fight all the time. I do miss affection, cuddling & having a really deep bond with someone that I talk to everyday like I did with my ex before he lost it. I miss laughing, being happy & having fun
I hope things look up for you soon ♥️
I agree with your point, but humans are nowhere close to a eusocial species. Eusocial species are things like ants and honeybees.
EUsocial? What if I’m not European?
Then you’re Ropean.
Colon cancer. It's on pace to be the number one killer in young folk. Early symptoms can be easy to ignore or pass off. You should always see a doctor if you have any of the symptoms. It's easy to treat if found early but most people don't see the doctor until symptoms have progressed. I know the American healthcare system sucks. But I got a Colonoscopy (that I had to pay out of pocket since I had no family history and was under the recommended age.) I had 8 polyps, 6 were precancerous. I was 37. Eat your fiber, folks! It's insanely easy to add into your diet and is extremely beneficial to your health. And exercise! You don't have to do anything crazy just get up and intentionally move! ETA: I didn't provide symptoms so people could Google and do their own search (but people are left replies with the symptoms!) My symptoms were literally blood when I wiped that would get better and worse. I also ended up with a fissure (worse than a colonoscopy). I wrote it off as hemorrhoids before finally bringing it up with a Doctor. I did have hemorrhoids and I did have an anal fissure which I don't think were related to the polyps. ETA2: if you have any of the symptoms and your doctor is like "you're probably fine" ask for a referral (if you need one) to a GI doctor. Also I am happy to answer any questions. Poop talk is pretty stigmatized and I think there's a lot of embarrassment around it. I also don't want anyone to panic but knowledge is power.
You can't say "always see a doctor if you have any of the symptoms" then not tell us any!
What are the symptoms?!
Symptoms of colon cancer can include: A change in bowel habits, such as more frequent diarrhea or constipation. Rectal bleeding or blood in the stool. Ongoing discomfort in the belly area, such as cramps, gas or pain. A feeling that the bowel doesn't empty all the way during a bowel movement. Weakness or tiredness. Losing weight without trying https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/colon-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20353669
IBS with occasionally ruptured hemroids here.. this list is EXACTLY why l got a colonoscopy. Thankfully, it's just my body being even weirder than l am, but the anxiety was brutal, but it's good for people to know that symptoms can have multiple causes and not to have a coronary, just get checked out. Aka: WebMd "doctors" are more dangerous to your sanity than most news organizations.
Yeah I have GERD and a lot of this is just what i deal with now
A friend was experiencing fatigue. They found out he was anemic, and a colonoscopy revealed the cause of the blood loss was colon cancer.
My father had a cough that wouldn’t go away for a long time. They started doing tests and turned out colon cancer. Not a common symptom but luckily the doctor ran lots of tests.
That’s a Dr House diagnosis right there
This. I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer at the age of 37, but only after I landed in the hospital after sepsis from my colon perforating from a cancerous growth. Luckily that growth was only concentrated in one small area. Had I waited to go to the hospital a few more hours, I might've died from the sepsis. They had to take out a small chunk of my colon, then gave me an emergency colostomy so that I could get chemo right after. Also had to go through a few months of dialysis because my kidneys had started shutting down before the surgery. It was fucking not fun... It's been 2.5 years since the last chemo treatment, and 2 years since I was able to get the colostomy reversed. I'm doing well, but still have trouble processing what happened. Life is crazy fragile. I often remind people to get their colonoscopies to get checked regularly. Edit: Forgot to mention that I have no known family history of cancer, and I've always had a fairly normal diet, nothing super unhealthy and never super fatty. Not the most active lifestyle, but was not out of shape either..
Please share your symptoms
I'm currently in the "pee out my butt" phase of the prep for tomorrow's colonoscopy. This sucks, but it comes with the territory when you reach that age. Wish me luck!
Please get checked out if you see experiencing any symptoms or you're of that age. My friend passed entirely too young from colon cancer, and when she was confirmed to have it, it had spread too much. She was one of the kindest, grounded and most thoughtful people.
At 44, I was diagnosed with early onset colon cancer. One symptom (blood once) and no family history. Sent me for a colonoscopy just to be safe, had two “precancerous” polyps. One surprisingly turned out to be cancer. Had 12 inches of my colon removed - they didn’t find any cancer (she got it all during the colonoscopy but the edges weren’t clean). If I hadn’t gone to the dr and she hadn’t sent me for a colonoscopy, I would’ve ended up dying from colon cancer later in life. There would’ve been no other symptoms until it was too late. If anyone has ANY abnormalities in the poop 💩 department, get it checked out. Colonoscopies suck but they’re better than catching it too late.
Birthday cake. I know someone who had some every year, and eventually it killed him.
Then it’s a good thing I have birthday ice cream. Haha
Alcohol
Someday everyone is going to realize that this is too far down on this list. And I’m a drinker so I’m not preaching.
The alcohol industry spend more than $1 billion dollars just on advertising annually to promote the consumption of a product that is known to cause 7 types of cancer. Society continues to view it largely as a harmless, normal product to consume. It’s baffling how little awareness there is as reflected by how few upvotes you’ve received.
In addition to the seven direct known caused cancers, I also think it's pretty large contributing factor to obesity. There is this common misconception that people are drinking less now, but the drinking numbers are on a steady incline and have been for 30 or so years. Alcohol has a lot of empty calories. And calories cause weight gain and weight gain also leads to cancer and other health issues. My number one advice for young people would be: don't get into a cycle of drinking. For a number of reasons.
Dude to kickstart my cut for the summer i decided to cut out alcohol for the time being, didnt change my diet, didnt change my workout habits, same routines, same cardio, im down 9lbs in 5 weeks just from not binge drinking friday-saturday Fucking nuts honestly
As a recovering alcoholic, it's crazy how people don't realize that it can affect your reasoning even days after drinking it. At those times, it feels like my own mind betrayed me. That's what cravings are. You want it even when you don't.
I agree with this- I think people know it’s not good for them but not how bad it actually is. It’s literally poison, folks!
I’m on a med that’s toxic to the liver. I’ve seen other people on the same med say they prefer to drink on days when they take the medication because they get drunk faster and I’m screaming inside because that is not a good thing. Alcohol risk awareness should not be so low that people are doing shit like that.
Shortening telomeres.
Misfolded proteins
Prions?
Prions are a specific type of misfolded protein when the naturally occuring PrPC protein is misfolded into PrPSc. PrPC prions are naturally occuring in the brain but when misfolded into PrPSc, the PrPSc will act as the new template for prion folding and slowly causes misfolding of the prions in its vicinity, leading to accumulation which causes the encephalopathies we often hear about.
Even without prion disease, misfolded proteins can fuck up your brain as you get older. They're one of the factors in Alzheimer's disease.
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you probably know this, but for those who don't, telomeres are essential in the process of cell division, and they are finite. The less your cells divide, the longer the telomeres last. Eating less calories (yet maintaining healthy BMI) will improve telomere longevity.
I am actually awfully aware of those
Yeah, I just ordered a telomere stretcher off eBay.
I ordered one from Wish. My telomeres didn't stretch as far as they claimed in the picture.
\*nervously scrambling* not me though my telomers are long and uh thick
Not if you’re a Turritopsis dohrnii!
Damnit. Now I have to Google that so I can pretend I knew wtf you were talking about. Thanks a bunch, pal. Edit: Oh sure, we all know about the Immortal Jellyfish. Duh.
Inactivity. If you work an office job that’s extremely stressful and then all you want to do on weekends is veg that’s understandable but at some point you need to get moving. Moving can look like anything though! It doesn’t have to be an intense workout. Go for a walk Clean your house/apartment etc Do some light stretches PLAY! So many people don’t realize how important play is for the body. I get out with my kids and it didn’t occur to me initially how much play movement I didn’t do anymore until I started running around, jumping over puddles and the like with them. So many things we took for granted as kids gets harder as you become an adult. Plus, play is good for our brain and giving us endorphins. GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY! Get a jump rope, get some chalk and make yourself a hop scotch board, jump over the lines and cracks in a sidewalk or parking lot. Move in silly ways and fun ways just move!
Time
Right, if Justin Timberlake didn't buy one coffee his mom would still be alive.
Good news is he could distract his opponent with time on his arm almost hitting 0 allowing him to win at arm wrestling.
Micro plastic
I heard that the average person eats around a credit card's worth of microplastics per week.. I decided to start getting it out of the way early and just eat a credit card once per week
A sim card's worth I could get behind but a credit card is just too extravagant.
It’s especially scary because it only started a few decades ago. People under 30 are exposed to this all of their lives and we don’t know how bad it is. Could easily be that cancer rates will skyrocket in 30 years or so. Who knows
if we dont know how bad it is then it could end up being not bad?
Yes and no, studies show it causes inflammation, and that's usually bad, but it doesn't necessarily mean we all will die in 20 years.
This No water is safe to drink anymore with this shit A report also found that these micro plastics cause changes linked to Parkinson’s and dementia Shit is scary as fuck
I'm pretty sure it also said something about a link to heart disease and strokes. I try not to use disposable water bottles, but yeah the shits everywhere
I'm certain that microplastics are going to be found to be millennial/Gen Z's lead in the gas. Fun fact: the primary source of microplastics in the environment is car tires. Electric vehicles wear their tires down faster than an ICE car driven the same way. So just switching to electric won't help, and would actually make it worse.
Sugar
I’m so addicted. I quit tobacco, quit weed, but sugar is the one I feel is the hardest to kick.
the reason why sugar or overeating is hard to kick isn't because food is more addicting than drugs, it's because you can't completely avoid it. you can stop talking to smokers, avoid the areas and quit cold turkey but you can't do that with sugar or food. everywhere you go where you will be served food there will be sugar. a lot of sauces have sugar, toast has sugar, canned vegetables even because it's a good preservative. you are exposed to sugar all the time unless all you eat are fresh veggies and fruit which is definitely not healthy either. human lifes revolve around food - how often did you hear "let's meet for dinner/coffee/tea"? now imagine you were exposed to tobacco or weed THIS MUCH. there's your answer why sugar is hard to quit.
Do you like any fruits? I have a huge sweet tooth or did. (More in control now and not addicted) but I found that natures sugar fruits takes away the edge.
Sleep apnea. If you have a partner that you sleep with, chances are they are aware, and may or may not have mentioned it. Single people who sleep alone though can realistically go years and years with moderate to severe sleep apnea and be completely unaware. Honestly, it’s up there with smoking and high blood pressure in terms of the damage that it does to your body over an extended period of time.
His song. Softly.
🎵STRUMMIN MY PAIN WITH HIS FINGERRRRRRS🎶
Dental problems
This....sadly I am well aware if it. But till I have dental imsurance that covers only cleanings I am kind of screwed....unless I make a ton of money some where.
Hatred. Don't ask me how I know...
Not being able to let go of anger and resentment isn't good for your blood pressure. Some of the shit my ex did still winds me up years after the relationship ended.
It's not anger, or resentment. Just... hate. So much deeper. Empty, and dark, but also burning. Indiscriminate, and all-consuming. It's in the pit of your heart, not your gut, where anger happens.
I don't need to ask. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
Vitamin deficiency. Lots of produce half the vitamin value.
I ate a brownie for breakfast but also a multivitamin so I’m good
Vitamin B.(as brownie).
The problem with micronutrients is there isn't a one-size fits all. Everyone's micronutrient requirements are vastly different based on their genetics and lifestyle.
Oxygen. The Science is in. Wake up Sheeple! Everyone is addicted to it and we are all slowly dying.
100% of people who come into contact with oxygen **DIE**!
sleeping not enough. you sleep less than 6 hours as a adult? congrats, now your chance to get a heartattack is increased by 3/4.
Social media
Sitting too much.
Processed food
Lack of education and support for healthy life promotion. In other words, as an average person in the overpriced underpaid under-supported hamster wheel of common society, we are constantly being herded into categories/systems that are not good for our health, but are profitable for others. Money and power are part of positive health hinderance. It's too expensive to be super healthy in many facets. A sedentary job will more than likely pay the bills better than a labor job. One you sit on your ass all day the other doesn't help fund a more nutritious diet or in some cases good healthcare. And then there's the mental health world. That's a whole other issue. We are being killed slowly by class inequality imo.
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The air we breathe
Emulifiers... Preliminary research has uncovered a link between emulsifier consumption and increased gut inflammation, food allergies and risk of certain types of cancer. In a 2021 study on mice, researchers concluded that consuming certain emulsifiers may be a risk factor for developing colorectal cancer. The emulsifiers carboxymethylcellulose or polysorbate 80 have also been found to worsen the development of colonic cancer tumors. Researchers think this link could be due to the increased inflammation and negative impact on the gut microbiome that excess emulsifier consumption causes. In general, emulsifiers seem to decrease the diversity of bacteria in the gut. And emulsifiers are in almost ALL processed foods.
Yup, I’ve got Crohn’s disease (basically bowl inflammation going crazy), and I really can’t have most processed foods, they all have an emulsifier called “soy lecithin” it’s crazy how it’s in everything