Some activities can make you live a shorter life, which is why you should pay attention to them and work to avoid or reduce them.
Many factors play a role in life expectancy, such as genetics, but there are things that can be controlled, which we learn about here.
These habits make you more likely to die early:
1- Sitting a lot
Inactivity can have a real impact on your longevity, and sitting too much is one of the main reasons.
This is indeed bad news for those who have to spend the vast majority of their working hours sitting at a desk. It may be helpful to try incorporating some activity into your break times.
Research has found that reducing daily sitting time to less than 3 hours may add up to two years to your life. A study concluded that reducing the amount of time we watch television to less than two hours a day could add an additional 1.4 years to our lives.
2- Little sleep
If you regularly sleep less than 5 hours a night, your risk of death is higher than someone who stays in bed for an additional two hours.
3- Sleeping a lot
The same applies to those who like to sleep a lot. If you often sleep more than 9 hours in bed each night, your risk of developing diabetes or coronary heart disease, and therefore premature death, is also higher.
4- Eat a lot of red meat
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a delicious steak or delicious burger once in a while. If you do this every day, we have bad news for you. It is estimated that eating red meat daily increases the risk of death by approximately 13%.
5- Eat a lot of processed meat
The same applies to processed meat. On the other hand, poultry is considered a good alternative, because it may reduce the risk of death by 14%. The same applies to fish.
6- Spending a lot of time at home
Spending too much time at home is unhealthy and will increase your risk of death.
For example, staying at home a lot is associated with a lack of exposure to sunlight, which disrupts your circadian rhythm and may lead to vitamin D deficiency.
7- Poor financial management
Neglecting to maintain your money can literally cost you years of your life. Cautious spending is actually good for your health, while the opposite may be bad for your heart.
While not everyone will be able to do this, having an emergency fund saved, rather than living paycheck to paycheck, has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults.
8- Forgetting to use dental floss
Poor oral hygiene is linked to poor heart health, and brushing your teeth and using dental floss is a way to ensure you get rid of bacteria that may spread to other parts of the body.
In fact, one study found that flossing your teeth can add up to 6.4 years to your life expectancy.
9- Avoid spicy foods
According to a study, people who eat spicy food daily have a 14% lower chance of death compared to people who do so only once a week.
10- Frequent use of the phone
Sitting on the couch while using your phone could take years off your life. Poor posture may actually lead to poor lung function.
According to a study, smartphone use among college students has been linked to decreased sleep quality, in addition to higher levels of anxiety and depression. It goes without saying that all of these things may have an impact on your life expectancy.
11- Getting stuck in traffic
It is unfortunate that many of us suffer from this day after day. A study found that although long stays in traffic affect men and women equally, the effect on women’s longevity is greater.
People who travel longer distances not only spend more time sitting, but they also have less time to be active. A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine concluded that “commute distance was negatively associated with physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, obesity, and metabolic risk indicators.”
12- You crack your neck
Do you crack your neck regularly? Well, there are some risks associated with this habit that can lead to early death. There have been cases where people did this, which led to an artery rupturing and a blood clot forming, leading to a stroke. It may sound good, but it is a habit that may reduce your life expectancy.
13- Being chronically unhappy
Feeling miserable is normal, and we all feel down from time to time. But spending year after year under a gray cloud can take years off our lives.
Strong negative emotions cannot be avoided, but they trigger a stress response. This means higher blood pressure, higher heart rate, and the release of cortisol (the stress hormone). Too much, too often, is not good for your health.
14- Worrying about death
It may seem ironic, but worrying about death can lead to early death. If you live with high levels of anxiety about your death, this may affect your health.
15- Isolate yourself
Humans are social beings and we need to connect with other humans. Research based on 148 studies found that people with strong social connections have a 50% lower risk of premature death than those without.
16- Not eating breakfast
The American Heart Association reports that those who eat breakfast are generally healthier on a number of indicators, including cholesterol levels, cardiovascular health and blood pressure.