Lose weight. Eat healthy. Exercise regularly. Drink lots of water. These just but a few health tips we always here of and they make sense. However, there are some health tips which may seem totally counterintuitive. But crazy as they may seem, they do work.
Below are some of these strange health tips
1. Coffee will make you nap better
Unbelievable right? Well, as per a Japanese study, those who consumed coffee right before a 20-minute nap felt more alert than those who only took a nap. Taking about 200mg of caffeine, amount in one or two cups of coffee, made them perform better on computer tests.
This works because a 20-minute naps ends just when the caffeine kicks in. This clears the brain of a molecule called adenosine thereby maximizing alertness.
According to Allen Towfigh, MD, medical director of New York Neurology & Sleep Medicine, “As adenosine levels increase, we become more fatigued. Napping clears out the adenosine and, when combined with caffeine, an adenosine-blocker, further reduces its effects and amplifies the effects of the nap.”
2. Don’t brush teeth immediately after eating
Acidic foods and beverages soften the enamel. Brushing teeth immediately after makes the teeth more vulnerable to acid erosion. Wait half an hour or one hour before brushing.
3. To fit into a smaller size, build your muscle weight
Apparently a 150 pound woman who lifts weights will be able to fit into pants meant for a 140 pound woman. The logic behind it is that muscle weight take up less space than fat weight. According to Mark Nutting, fitness director of SACO Sport & Fitness in Saco, Maine, “You can get bigger muscles and get smaller overall if you lose the fat. The bulk so many women fear only occurs if you don’t lose fat and develop muscle on top of it.” Add weight to your workout.
4. Eat more protein to eat less
Snacking on small amounts of carbohydrates, increases blood sugar leaving you hungrier for more. Amy Goodson, RD, dietitian for Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine recommends eating something more substantial like peanut butter or string cheese with an apple. “They are higher in calories per serving, but the protein and fat helps you get full faster and stay full longer—and you end up eating fewer calories overall,” she says
5. Don’t take energy drinks when fatigued
Because of the amount of caffeine in energy drinks – five times more than coffee – the boost from them comes with rapid heartbeat, nervousness and irritability. Energy drinks also have high levels of taurine – a central nervous system stimulant and sugar which drops soon after, leaving you craving for more.
6. When bloated, drink water
This may seem like the worst thing to do. However, dehydration makes our bodies cling on to water your body has making one bloated. More water makes it all better.
7. To lose weight, skip diet soda
Stay away from all soda, even diet. Apparently, people who drank diet soda over-compensated for the calories from food. University of Texas study also found people who drank diet soda had the circumference of their waist increase over the course of 10 years..
‘Low-fat,’ ‘low-sugar,’ or ‘light’ doesn’t necessarily mean fewer calories. Goodson says, “Typically when manufacturers cut something out and the end result tastes just as good, they’ve added something like additional sugar.”
8. Drink something hot to cool you
Hot beverages will cool you off faster than cold ones. Drinking something hot makes the body sense the temperature, increasing production of sweat hence cooling you off faster when sweat evaporates from your body.
9. Exercise when tired
Getting sweat up after a long, tiring day will energize you after a 30 minute moderate exercise session. In a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Nutting says, “Everything we do uses oxygen, so when you exercise it helps you work more efficiently and you don’t tire as easily. You also function better mentally.”
10. Prevent illness by ditching antibacterial soap
Most antibacterial soaps have products like triclosan, which according to a 2013 FDA statement, if used for too long may create resistance to bacteria or hormonal effects. Also there is no proof that these soaps are better than the regular ones. Using won’t reduce the risk of contacting or spreading bacteria.